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Parasites and individual major histocompatibility complex diversity--an optimal choice?
K Mathias Wegner1, Martin Kalbe, Helmut Schaschl
1Department of Evolutionary Ecology, Max Planck Institute of Limnology, August-Thienemann-Street 2, 24306 Plön, Germany. wegner@mpil-ploen.mpg.de
Microbes and Infection
|September 24, 2004
Abstract:
Overdominant selection or heterozygote advantage can partly explain the extraordinary polymorphism found at classical major histocompatibility complex (MHC) loci. However, several studies employing only single infectious agents often failed to detect it. Here, we review recent studies suggesting that due to the dominant nature of MHC-mediated resistance, a heterozygote advantage is most likely to be detected in multiple pathogen challenges.