Abstract
In the present study, exon 2 of major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II DQB gene from 39 gayals (Bos frontalis) was isolated, characterized and compared with previously reported patterns for other bovidae. It was revealed by sequence analyses that there are 36 DQB exon 2 variants among 39 gayals. These variants exhibited a high degree of nucleotide and amino acid substitutions with most amino acid variations occurring at positions forming the peptide-binding sites (PBS). The DQB loci were analysed for patterns of synonymous (dS) and non-synonymous (dN) substitution. The gayals were observed to be under strong balancing selection in the DQB exon 2 PBS (dN = 0.094, P = 0.001). It appears that this variability among gayals could confer the ability to mount immune responses to a wide variety of peptides or pathogens.
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