The chicken major histocompatibility complex and disease

Abstract

The chicken major histocompatibility complex (MHC), or 6 complex, consists of several clusters of highly polymorphic genes, some of which are associated with disease resistance. The class I and class II antigens resemble their mammalian counterparts in the encoded protein structure. The class IV region encodes the B blood group antigens, which are readily identified by serological blood-typing. The class III region appears to be divided in chickens, with some elements that are MHC-linked and others that map elsewhere. In addition the Rfp-Y system, which bears a strong similarity to the MHC, maps to the opposite side of the nucleolar organiser region on the same microchromosome as the MHC. Each class of MHC genes is a potential candidate for a role in disease resistance. The MHC genes show associations with response to diseases as diverse as virally induced neoplasia, bacterial, parasitic and auto-immune diseases.

MHC class IIA polymorphisms and their association with resistance–susceptibility to Streptococcus agalactiae in Nile tilapia, Oreochromis niloticus

“…The major histocompatibility complex (MHC) is a multiple gene family in the vertebrate immune system; these genes encode highly polymorphic polypeptides and have been linked with resistance-susceptibility to numerous pathogenic diseases (Apanius et al, 1997;Lamont, 1998). The association between MHC polymorphisms and resistance or susceptibility to many diseases have been described in several species of teleost , Liu, Liu, Zhao, et al, 2014, Wynne et al, 2007, Xu et al, 2010, Yang et al, 2016.…”

MHC polymorphism and disease resistance to Vibrio anguillarum in 12 selective Japanese flounder (Paralichthys olivaceus) families

“…In chicken, the MHC is also found to be associated with resistance towards other pathogens [18]. In salmonid species, association between major histocompatibility complex polymorphism and disease resistance was investigated by comparing individual alleles of MHC genes; specific alleles of MHC have been documented to correlate with some viral and bacterial diseases [19e23].…”

Identification and expression analysis of major histocompatibility complex IIB gene in orange‐spotted grouper Epinephelus coioides

“…The MHC class II molecule, a heterodimer, consisting of one α and one β chain, presents exogenously derived peptides to CD4 + T cells. The mhcIIB gene was shown to be relative to individual's disease resistance in some species, such as H. sapiens (Hendel et al , 1999), chicken Gallus gallus (Lamont, 1998; Bacon et al , 2000) and S. salar (Grimholt et al , 2003). Since 1990, when the first sequence of fish MHC was found in C. carpio (Hashimoto et al , 1990), the mhc gene has been widely studied in fish species, such as D. rerio (Sultmann et al , 1994), O. mykiss (Glamann, 1995), S. salar (Stet et al , 2002), P. major (Chen et al , 2006), S. maximus (Zhang & Chen, 2006) and African lungfish Protopterus annectens (Owen 1839) (Sato et al , 2000 b ).…”