Evidence for multiple MHC class II β loci in New Zealand's critically endangered kakapo, Strigops habroptilus.

Immunologically important genes of the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) have been characterized in a number of avian species with the general finding of considerable variation in size and structural organization among organisms. A range of nonpasserines which represent early-diverging Neoave lineages have been described as having only one MHC class II β locus potentially leading to the conclusion that this is the ancestral condition. Here, we examine the monotypic, early-diverging, critically endangered kakapo, Strigops habroptilus, for allelic variation at MHC class II β exon 2, as part of species' recovery efforts. We found two to four confirmed sequence variants per individual indicating the presence of more than one MHC class II β locus. Given the kakapo's basal evolutionary status, evidence for multiple MHC class II β loci seems to counter the proposed mono-locus history of modern birds. However, MHC gene duplication, maintenance, and loss among and within bird species may confound avian relationships making it difficult to elucidate the ancestral state. This study adds essential data for disentangling the course of MHC structural evolution in birds.