A NOVEL RECOMBINANT HLA-B-ASTERISK-39 ALLELE (B-ASTERISK-3910) IN A SOUTH-AFRICAN ZULU

The sequence of a new B39 allele has been identified in a South Afric an Zulu individual. This allele, designated B3910, differs at two nuc leotide positions (246 and 272) from B39011. The difference at positi on 246 is silent, while that at position 272 results in an amino acid change from cysteine (B39011) to tyrosine (B*3910). As these same dif ferences are found in other HLA-B alleles, they were probably introduc ed into the B3910 sequence by a short gene conversion event with anot her allele. This finding provides further evidence for the diversifica tion of HLA-B allelic sequences via recombination.