%0 Journal Article %A Hans, Jörg B. %A Vigilant, Linda %+ Department of Primatology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Max Planck Society Molecular Genetics Laboratory, Department of Primatology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Max Planck Society Department of Primatology, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Max Planck Society %T Discovery of gorilla MHC-C expressing C1 ligand for KIR : %G eng %U https://hdl.handle.net/21.11116/0000-0000-E7CA-8 %R 10.1007/s00251-017-1038-y %D 2018 %* Review method: peer-reviewed %X In comparison to humans and chimpanzees, gorillas show low diversity at MHC class I genes (Gogo), as reflected by an overall reduced level of allelic variation as well as the absence of a functionally important sequence motif that interacts with killer cell immunoglobulin-like receptors (KIR). Here, we use recently generated large-scale genomic sequence data for a reassessment of allelic diversity at Gogo-C, the gorilla orthologue of HLA-C. Through the combination of long-range amplifications and long-read sequencing technology, we obtained, among the 35 gorillas reanalyzed, three novel full-length genomic sequences including a coding region sequence that has not been previously described. The newly identified Gogo-C*03:01 allele has a divergent recombinant structure that sets it apart from other Gogo-C alleles. Domain-by-domain phylogenetic analysis shows that Gogo-C*03:01 has segments in common with Gogo-B*07, the additional B-like gene that is present on some gorilla MHC haplotypes. Identified in ~ 50% of the gorillas analyzed, the Gogo-C*03:01 allele exclusively encodes the C1 epitope among Gogo-C allotypes, indicating its important function in controlling natural killer cell (NK cell) responses via KIR. We further explored the hypothesis whether gorillas experienced a selective sweep which may have resulted in a general reduction of the gorilla MHC class I repertoire. Our results provide little support for a selective sweep but rather suggest that the overall low Gogo class I diversity can be best explained by drastic demographic changes gorillas experienced in the ancient and recent past. %K MHC genotyping, PacBio, Next-generation sequencing, Bottleneck, Evolution %J Immunogenetics %V 70 %N 5 %& 293 %P 293 - 304 %I Springer %C Berlin [u.a.] %@ 0093-7711, 1432-1211