Southern Bahia, Brazil: KIR gene-content distribution in the highly admixed population from Ilhéus

Abstract We here describe the KIR gene-content genotypes in the highly admixed population from Ilheus, a city located in Bahia State, Northeast Brazil. Bahia is the State with the largest contribution of African ethnicity in comparison to other Brazilian areas and this is the first report of a population from this region. A total of 32 KIR gene-content genotypes have been found, from which 18 were observed in single individuals. The distinct KIR gene-content distribution observed in Ilheus, along with the elevated diversity of genotypes point to importance of describing KIR polymorphism in unique populations from Brazil.