The role of balancing selection in maintaining human RhD blood group polymorphism: A preregistered cross-sectional study

Result code in IS VaVaI

<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F00023752%3A_____%2F21%3A43920489" target="_blank" >RIV/00023752:_____/21:43920489 - isvavai.cz</a>

Alternative codes found

RIV/00216208:11310/21:10420716

Result on the web

<a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jeb.13745" target="_blank" >https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jeb.13745</a>

DOI - Digital Object Identifier

<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/jeb.13745" target="_blank" >10.1111/jeb.13745</a>

Result language

angličtina

Original language name

The role of balancing selection in maintaining human RhD blood group polymorphism: A preregistered cross-sectional study

Original language description

Maintenance of genetic polymorphism remains one of the big questions of evolutionary biology, which for a long time tended to be explained by balancing selection. This explanation was later criticized, but now is again accepted as an important mechanism in evolution. Human blood group systems seem affected by balancing selection especially strongly. In this preregistered study, we focused on stable coexistence of RhD‐positive and RhD‐negative subjects in a population. This is an evolutionary conundrum, because carriers of the less frequent negative allele suffer from lower fecundity due to haemolytic disease of the newborn affecting RhD‐positive infants born to RhD‐negative women. One explanation of persisting stability of RhD polymorphism points to heterozygote advantage. Over the past decade, numerous studies demonstrated that RhD‐positive subjects score better than RhD‐negative homozygotes in psychomotor tests and physical health‐related variables. Still, evidence of better health and performance of heterozygotes is scarce and merely indirect. We compared the physical and mental health of 2,539 subjects whose RhD genotype was estimated based on their and their parents&apos; RhD phenotype. We confirmed that RhD‐negative homozygotes fare worse in terms of physical and mental health than subjects with RhD‐positive phenotype and that RhD‐positive heterozygotes enjoy better health than both homozygotes. For the first time, we demonstrated that RhD‐positive homozygotes might suffer from worse health than RhD‐negative homozygotes. Our results strongly support the hypothesis that RhD polymorphism is maintained by heterozygote advantage and that balancing selection may have played an important role in human evolution in this context and in general.

Czech name

—

Czech description

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Type

J_imp - Article in a specialist periodical, which is included in the Web of Science database

CEP classification

—

OECD FORD branch

10602 - Biology (theoretical, mathematical, thermal, cryobiology, biological rhythm), Evolutionary biology

Project

<a href="/en/project/GA18-13692S" target="_blank" >GA18-13692S: Conservation of Rh Polymorphism in Modern Humans through Selection Favoring Heterozygotes – The Influence of the Genotype on Fertility and Viability</a><br>

Continuities

V - Vyzkumna aktivita podporovana z jinych verejnych zdroju

Publication year

2021

Confidentiality

S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů

Name of the periodical

Journal of Evolutionary Biology

ISSN

1010-061X

e-ISSN

—

Volume of the periodical

34

Issue of the periodical within the volume

3

Country of publishing house

US - UNITED STATES

Number of pages

13

Pages from-to

426-438

UT code for WoS article

000595841100001

EID of the result in the Scopus database

2-s2.0-85097042418