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Somatic Mutation in Ectothermic Vertebrates: Musings on Selection and Origins

  • Chapter
Somatic Diversification of Immune Responses

Part of the book series: Current Topics in Microbiology and Immunology ((CT MICROBIOLOGY,volume 229))

Abstract

The antibody responses of ectothermic (cold blooded) vertebrates do not mature in the same fashion as responses analyzed in mice. This has been demonstrated by either a total lack of affinity maturation in some species or a much lower rise in affinity in others (reviewed in Du Pasquier 1993). When it was determined that all ectotherms studied possess large numbers of V(D)J genes, and that rearrangement processes to establish Ig repertoires are essentially the same as those in mouse and human, it was theorized that poor immune responses in ectotherms could be explained by a suboptimal utilization of somatic mutants (Du Pasquier 1982, 1993). Another interpretation was that somatic mutation in the immune system arose late in vertebrate evolution, after emergence of the rearrangement process that generates functional V genes (Matsunaga 1985). Recent studies in cartilaginous fish (horned shark and nurse shark) and an amphibian (Xenopus) have shown conclusively that in addition to all of the molecular building blocks of the adaptive immune system, somatic hypermutation in immune-related genes is present in all jawed vertebrates. In this chapter we review the evidence for mutation in ectotherms, debate its importance to the immune system of these creatures, and speculate on its origins.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Basel Institute for Immunology, Grenzacherstrasse 487, Postfach 4005, Basel, Switzerland

    L. Du Pasquier

  2. Department of Microbiology, University of Mississippi Medical Center, Jackson, MS, 39216, USA

    M. Wilson

  3. Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Miami, P.O. Box 016960 R-138, Miami, FL, 33101, USA

    A. S. Greenberg & M. F. Flajnik

Authors
  1. L. Du Pasquier
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  2. M. Wilson
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  3. A. S. Greenberg
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  4. M. F. Flajnik
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, 655 W. Baltimore Street, Baltimore, MD, 21201, USA

    Garnett Kelsoe D. Sc.

  2. Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Miami School of Medicine, 1600 NW 10th Avenue, Miami, FL, 33136, USA

    Martin F. Flajnik Ph.D.

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© 1998 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Du Pasquier, L., Wilson, M., Greenberg, A.S., Flajnik, M.F. (1998). Somatic Mutation in Ectothermic Vertebrates: Musings on Selection and Origins. In: Kelsoe, G., Flajnik, M.F. (eds) Somatic Diversification of Immune Responses. Current Topics in Microbiology and Immunology, vol 229. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-71984-4_14

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-71984-4_14

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-71986-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-71984-4

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