ReviewProceedings. Biological sciences2010
How pathogens drive genetic diversity: MHC, mechanisms and misunderstandings.
Review in Proceedings. Biological sciences, 2010. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 352 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
352 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Meta-analysis of major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class IIA reveals polymorphism and positive selection in many vertebrate species.Molecular ecology · 2022Pooled it
- Genomic erosion in the assessment of species' extinction risk and recovery potential.The Journal of heredity · 2026Article
- Research Progress on the Major Histocompatibility Complex in Herbivores: Structure, Genetics, and Disease Resistance.Biology · 2026Review
- Evidence for balancing selection on loci associated with host use in the genome of a generalist plant parasite.Evolution letters · 2026Article
- Ancient genomics study reveals low HLA diversity in eastern hunter-gatherers.Genome biology · 2026Article
- Unheralded high MHC class II polymorphism in the abundant Atlantic herring resolved by long-read sequencing.Science advances · 2026Article
- Understanding the structure of swine leukocyte antigen class I molecules.Cellular & molecular biology letters · 2026Review
- Scalable ARG-free Detection of Denisovan-mediated Superarchaic Introgression Reveals Heterogeneous Patterns across Populations.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- A multi-ethnic reference map of T cell receptor germline diversity reveals evidence of natural selection on alpha chain genes.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Entrenchment of germline amino-acid differences in antibody affinity maturation.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- NATURAL VARIATION IN RADIOTOLERANCE IS ASSOCIATED WITH DIFFERENCES IN INNATE IMMUNE ACTIVITY AND S-PHASE TRANSCRIPTION IN DROSOPHILA MELANOGASTER.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Regional Lassa virus lineages select for divergent MHC-I repertoires in Mastomys natalensis rodents.PLoS pathogens · 2026Article
- Hybridization and Immunology in Animals: A Review.Ecology and evolution · 2026Review
- A key regulator of missing-self innate immunity is polymorphic and under diversifying selection.Molecular biology and evolution · 2026Article
- Host immunogenetic variation and gut microbiome functionality in a wild vertebrate population.Microbiome · 2026Article
- Major Histocompatibility Complex Immunogenetic Diversity Differs Substantially Across Sea Turtle Species and Genomic Regions.Genome biology and evolution · 2026Article
- Ancient DNA insights into diverse pathogens and their hosts.Nature reviews. Genetics · 2026Review
- Adaptive radiation and structural tailoring of the VietnameseFrontiers in genetics · 2026Article
- Natural variability of trace-amine associated receptors in wild meerkats.Frontiers in zoology · 2025Article
- Twenty years of tuberculosis-driven selection shaped the evolution of the meerkat major histocompatibility complex.Nature ecology & evolution · 2025Article
292 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Major histocompatibility complex (MHC) genes have been put forward as a model for studying how genetic diversity is maintained in wild populations. Pathogen-mediated selection (PMS) is believed to generate the extraordinary levels of MHC diversity observed. However, establishing the relative importance of the three proposed mechanisms of PMS (heterozygote advantage, rare-allele advantage and fluctuating selection) has proved extremely difficult. Studies have attempted to differentiate between mechanisms of PMS using two approaches: (i) comparing MHC diversity with that expected under neutrality and (ii) relating MHC diversity to pathogen regime. Here, we show that in many cases the same predictions arise from the different mechanisms under these approaches, and that most studies that have inferred one mechanism of selection have not fully considered the alternative explanations. We argue that, while it may be possible to demonstrate that particular mechanisms of PMS are occurring, resolving their relative importance within a system is probably impossible. A more realistic target is to continue to demonstrate when and where the different mechanisms of PMS occur, with the aim of determining their relative importance across systems. We put forward what we believe to be the most promising approaches that will allow us to progress towards achieving this.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.