Genetic polymorphism and evolutionary differentiation of Eastern Chinese Han: a comprehensive and comparative analysis on KIRs

Sci Rep. 2017 Feb 16:7:42486. doi: 10.1038/srep42486.

Abstract

Killer cell immunoglobulin-like receptor genes, namely KIRs, cluster together within the 160 kb genomic DNA region. In this study, we used PCR-SSP approach and successfully identified the genotype of 17 KIR genes in 123 independent healthy donors residing in the Jiangsu province, China. All individuals were positive at the 7 genes. The observed carrier gene frequencies (OFs) of remaining 10 KIRs ranged from 14.63% (KIR2DS3) to 95.93% (KIR3DL1). We found 27 distinct genotypes excluding KIR1D. The most frequent occurred in 63 individuals (51.22%). The linkage disequilibrium analysis signified 29 positive and 6 negative relations in 45 pairwise comparisons. To study population differentiation, we drew a Heatmap based on the data of KIRs from 59 populations and conducted Hierarchical Clustering by Euclidean distances. We next validated our results by estimating pairwise DA distances and illustrating a Neighbor-Joining tree, as well as a MDS plot covering 3 additional Chinese Han groups. The phylogenetic reconstruction and cluster analysis strongly indicated a genetically close relationship between Eastern and Jilin Hans. In conclusion, the present study provided a meritorious resource of KIR genotyping for population genetics, and could be helpful to uncover the genetic mechanism of KIRs in immune disease in the future.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Alleles
  • Asian People / genetics*
  • China
  • Evolution, Molecular*
  • Gene Frequency
  • Genetic Linkage
  • Genetics, Population*
  • Genotype
  • Heterozygote
  • Humans
  • Linkage Disequilibrium
  • Multigene Family
  • Phylogeny
  • Polymorphism, Genetic*
  • Receptors, KIR / genetics*

Substances

  • Receptors, KIR