Concerted Evolution and Polymorphism in the Mhc Class II Region of Birds

鸟类 Mhc II 类区域的协同进化和多态性

• 批准号: 9815800
• 负责人: Scott Edwards
• 金额: $ 26.5万
• 依托单位: University of Washington
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 1999
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 1999-03-15 至 2002-02-28
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=9815800&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Concerted; Evolution; Polymorphism; Mhc; Class

9815800Scott Edwars The goal of this proposal is to characterize the structure and evolution of a family of immunologically important genes in birds. These genes, called major histocompatibility complex (Mhc) genes, will be cloned and sequenced to understand the rates and pattern of DNA changes that have taken place during the evolution of this gene family. Mhc genes are of great interest to immunologists because they encode proteins that play a critical role the body's defense against disease in vertebrates. Mhc genes are of interest to evolutionary biologists because they are the most variable regions of the genome of vertebrates. Most work on these genes, however, has been done on mammals. By understanding how bird Mhc genes evolve, this research will permit a better understanding of how gene families in different groups of vertebrates change, and, by extension, whether or not the genomes of different groups of vertebrates change in appreciably different ways. As large-scale genome projects near completion, it will be important to understand how the Mhc genome and the families of genes in it differ and change compared to those in other groups of animals. This information is important for understanding the diversity of life and genetic change on earth, as well as for understanding how animals such as birds defend themselves against diseases and parasites.

9815800 Scott Edwars这项提议的目标是描述鸟类中一个免疫重要基因家族的结构和进化。这些基因被称为主要组织相容性复合体(MHC)基因，将被克隆和测序，以了解该基因家族在进化过程中发生的DNA变化的速度和模式。免疫学家对MHC基因非常感兴趣，因为它们编码的蛋白质在脊椎动物的身体防御疾病中发挥着关键作用。进化生物学家对MHC基因很感兴趣，因为它们是脊椎动物基因组中变异最大的区域。然而，对这些基因的大部分研究都是在哺乳动物身上进行的。通过了解鸟类MHC基因是如何进化的，这项研究将使我们能够更好地了解不同脊椎动物群体中的基因家族是如何变化的，进而了解不同脊椎动物群体的基因组是否以明显不同的方式变化。随着大规模基因组计划接近完成，了解MHC基因组和其中的基因家族与其他动物组相比有何不同和变化将是重要的。这些信息对于了解地球上生命的多样性和基因变化，以及了解鸟类等动物如何防御疾病和寄生虫非常重要。