MIC gene polymorphism and haplotype diversity in Zhuang nationality of Southern China

Zhuang ethnic minority is the largest minority group in China. Here, we report for the first time the polymorphisms of MICA and MICB in a healthy Zhuang population of 209 unrelated individuals. Using polymerase chain reaction-sequence specific priming (PCR-SSP) and sequencing-based typing (PCR-SBT), 13 MICA-sequence alleles and 5 MICA-STR alleles, as well as 11 MICB alleles were detected, among which MICA∗010, MICA∗A5 and MICB∗005:02 were the most frequent alleles. Linkage disequilibria was investigated and the most common two-locus haplotypes were MICB∗005:02-MICA∗010 and MICB∗014-MICA∗045. These results suggest informative genetic markers for investigating origins and evolution of MHC class I region haplotypes in Zhuang population.