pmTR database: population matched (pm) germline allelic variants of T-cell receptor (TR) loci

The IMGT database profiles theTRgermline alleles for all fourTRloci (TRA,TRB,TRGandTRD), however, it does not comprise of the information regarding population specificity and allelic frequencies of these germline alleles. The specificity of allelic variants to different human populations can, however, be a rich source of information when studying the genetic basis of population-specific immune responses in disease and in vaccination. Therefore, we meticulously identified true germline alleles enriched with completeTRallele sequences and their frequencies across 26 different human populations, profiled by “1000 Genomes data”. We identified 205TRAV, 249TRBV, 16TRGVand 5TRDVgermline alleles supported by at least four haplotypes. The diversity of germline allelic variants in theTRloci is the highest in Africans, while the majority of the Non-African alleles are specific to the Asian populations, suggesting a diverse profile ofTRgermline alleles in different human populations. Interestingly, the alleles in the IMGT database are frequent and common across all five super-populations. We believe that this new set of germlineTRsequences represents a valuable new resource which we have made available through the new population-matchedTR(pmTR) database, accessible viahttps://pmtrig.lumc.nl/.