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MHC class II expression in skin biopsies from the franciscana dolphin Pontoporia blainvillei and the southern right whale Eubalaena australis

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2009

Larissa Heinzelmann ,
Maurício Tavares ,
Paulo H. Ott ,
Ignacio M.B. Moreno  and
José Artur B. Chies
Larissa Heinzelmann*
Affiliation:
Programa de Pós-Graduação em Genética e Biologia Molecular, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, RS, 91501-970, Brazil
Maurício Tavares
Affiliation:
Grupo de Estudos de Mamíferos Aquáticos do Rio Grande do Sul (GEMARS) Centro de Estudos Costeiros, Limnológicos e Marinhos (CECLIMAR–UFRGS)
Paulo H. Ott
Affiliation:
Grupo de Estudos de Mamíferos Aquáticos do Rio Grande do Sul (GEMARS) Centro de Estudos Costeiros, Limnológicos e Marinhos (CECLIMAR–UFRGS) Universidade Estadual do Rio Grande do Sul (UERGS)
Ignacio M.B. Moreno
Affiliation:
Grupo de Estudos de Mamíferos Aquáticos do Rio Grande do Sul (GEMARS) Centro de Estudos Costeiros, Limnológicos e Marinhos (CECLIMAR–UFRGS)
José Artur B. Chies
Affiliation:
Programa de Pós-Graduação em Genética e Biologia Molecular, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, RS, 91501-970, Brazil
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: L. Heinzelmann, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Genética e Biologia Molecular, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, RS, 91501-970, Brazil email: lari2512@yahoo.com.br
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Abstract

Presently, there is no information about the functionality of the immune system in the franciscana dolphin (Pontoporia blainvillei), a small dolphin from southern Brazil. As in the case of the franciscana, the population of southern right whale (Eubalaena australis) which inhabits Brazilian waters has not yet been surveyed in what concerns MHC expression. For the first time it was possible to observe the DQB gene expression in skin of these two species of cetacean using RT-PCR. Skin pieces of the animals were collected to RNA extraction. The fragment corresponding to DQB exon 2 was amplified, cloned and sequenced. A total of five alleles were found, one to franciscana and four to southern right whale. The observed dN/dS ratio of 2.77 (P = 0.03) suggests that this gene is under balancing selection pressure (positive Darwinian selection). The sequences indicate that, in both species analysed, the DQB gene is functional.

Keywords

major histocompatibility complex (MHC)skin biopsiesPontoporia blainvilleiEubalaena australis
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 89 , Special Issue 5: Cetaceans , August 2009 , pp. 1009 - 1013
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2009

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