Figure 2

Relative CD8⁺ TCRVβ usage by season of birth, in the CD8⁺ T cell subset. The relative usage within the hungry/high infection or harvest/low infection season for each of the 24 TCRVβ types is determined by expressing the sum of the fluorescence intensities of each TCRVβ type as a percentage of the total of all peak fluorescence intensities in the population. The percentage CD8⁺ TCRVβ usage for those born in hungry/high infection season (blue bars) and harvest/low infection season (maroon bars) are shown. While the usage of most TCRVβ types did not exceed 5%, TCRVβ12 usage was consistently higher than all TCRVβ types for both seasons of birth. The near extinction of TCRVβ24 is manifested in the near zero usage observed for both seasons of birth. There were 26 subjects each born in the hungry/high infection or harvest/low infection seasons. If each TCRVβ type was used at same frequency, usage would be expected at a frequency of approximately 4% (1/24) [dotted horizontal line], therefore there is an overall high usage; with most (16/24) showing ≥4% usage. TCRVβ12 'publicly' expressed perhaps reflecting association with the endemicity of hepatitis B virus; TCRVβ12 being specific for HBV core antigen. Significant season of birth differences were seen for TCRVβ12 and 24; p = 0.04 and p < 0.03 respectively.