Discovery of a novel HLA-B*51 variant, B*51:112, in a Taiwanese bone marrow donor and identification of the plausible HLA haplotype in association with B*51:112.

The sequence of B*51:112 is identical to the sequence of B*51:01:01 in exons 2, 3 and 4, except the nucleotides at positions 206 (C→A) and 213 (C→G). The nucleotide replacement caused one amino acid substitution at residue 45 (T→K). The plausible HLA-A, -B and -DRB1 haplotype in association with B*51:112 may be deduced as HLA-A*02-B*51:112-DRB1*12. The generation of B*51:112 was probably as the result of a DNA recombination event where B*40:01:01 acted as a sequence donor donating a segment of the DNA sequence to the recipient sequence B*51:01:01. The donor carrying B*51:112 was a Minna Taiwanese whose ancestor came to Taiwan from the southern region of China.