The Relevance of HLA Sequencing in Population Genetics Studies
Figure 1
Plot comparisons of two different measures of genetic distances among populations. Each point corresponds to a pair of populations (taken from a large database of 90 populations typed for HLA-B and 106 populations typed for HLA-DRB1, resp.) for which two values are reported: the genetic distance estimated by taking into account both the allele frequencies and the molecular distance between the alleles (“-derived” Reynold’s genetic distance based on PBR sequences, axis) and the genetic distance estimated only from allele frequencies (“-derived” Reynolds’ genetic distance based on allele frequencies, axis). (a) Locus HLA-B; in this plot, the population pairs formed by the Samoans and all other populations are highlighted by red squares. (b) HLA-DRB1; in this plot, the population pairs formed by the Lebanese Arabs and all other populations are highlighted by red squares. For Samoans at HLA-B, genetic distances are clearly skewed toward higher values with Reynold’s genetic distance based on PBR sequences, while the opposite situation is observed for the Lebanese Arabs at HLA-DRB1. Taking into account the molecular information has thus substantial effects on the estimation of population relationships (from [21]).
