Study of ULBP Genes in Cattle
Author Information
Author(s): Joshua H Larson, Brandy M Marron, Jonathan E Beever, Bruce A Roe, Harris A Lewin
Primary Institution: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Hypothesis
The cattle ULBPs evolved by duplication and sequence divergence to produce a sufficient number and diversity of ULBP molecules to deliver an immune activation signal in the presence of immunogenic peptides.
Conclusion
The ULBP loci in the cattle genome arose by gene duplication and sequence divergence, supporting the hypothesis that they evolved under adaptive diversifying selection.
Supporting Evidence
- Sequencing identified 30 cattle ULBP loci in two gene clusters.
- Evidence of extensive segmental duplication and novel repetitive sequences were found.
- Substitution analysis revealed positive Darwinian selection on certain residues.
Takeaway
Cattle have many ULBP genes that help their immune system fight viruses, and these genes have changed over time to be more effective.
Methodology
Sequencing of cattle bacterial artificial chromosome genomic inserts was performed to identify ULBP loci and analyze their genomic organization.
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
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