Answered: MHC polymorphism at individual MHC…

Human Anatomy & Physiology (11th Edition)

11th Edition

ISBN:9780134580999

Author:Elaine N. Marieb, Katja N. Hoehn

Publisher:Elaine N. Marieb, Katja N. Hoehn

Chapter1: The Human Body: An Orientation

Section: Chapter Questions

Problem 1RQ: The correct sequence of levels forming the structural hierarchy is A. (a) organ, organ system,...

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MHC polymorphism at individual MHC genes appears to have been strongly selected by evolutionary pressures. In other words, there appears to be selection for maintaining hundreds to thousands of different alleles of each MHC gene in the population. This notion is based on the observation that nucleotide differences between alleles that lead to amino acid substitutions are more frequent than those that are silent substitutions (i.e., not changing the amino acid sequence of the protein). In addition, the positions within the MHC protein where most of the allelic sequence variation occurs are not randomly distributed, but are concentrated in certain regions of the MHC protein. This latter point indicates:

That some nucleotide sequences within the MHC genes are hot-spots for mutation
That MHC genes are more susceptible to point mutations than to larger nucleotide deletions
That MHC allelic polymorphism has been driven by selection for diversity in peptide binding specificity
That MHC genes are more susceptible to all types of mutations than are other genes in the genome
That MHC polymorphism has evolved to prevent pathogens that infect non-human primates from infecting humans

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