title: Allelic polymorphism of mouse Igh-J locus, which encodes immunoglobulin heavy chain joining (JH) segments.
abstract: The mouse genome contains four functional JH genes, which encode immunoglobulin heavy chain joining segments. The JH gene cluster is located a few kilobases 5' from the constant region genes (C genes) on chromosome 12. The polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-technique was used to amplify DNA stretches from mouse genome of approximately 1,340 nucleotides in length containing all four JH genes (Igh-J locus). PCR products were directly used as templates in Sanger's dideoxy-sequencing, and sequences were determined. Twelve inbred mouse strains belonging to ten different Igh-C haplotypes were studied. The strains were: BALB/c, C58/J, RIII, DBA/2, CE, RF, CBA, NZB/J, AKR, C57BL/10, SJL, and A/J. Five allelic forms of the Igh-J locus were found among these strains. The A/J mouse has an allele (e) which differs from the BALB/c allele (a) by 15 nucleotides. C57BL and SJL have the allele (b) with eight differences from BALB/c. The CBA allele (j) has two differences, and the CE allele (f) has a single nucleotide difference compared with the BALB/c sequence. Based on the JH, variable (V) and constant (C) region sequences we conclude that independent reshuffling of VH, JH, and CH gene clusters occurred during the evolution of Mus musculus.
authors.affiliation: Department of Bacteriology and Immunology, University Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: M L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Solin
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kaartinen
mesh_terms: D000483:Alleles; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D005803:Genes, Immunoglobulin / Q000235:genetics*; D007143:Immunoglobulin Heavy Chains / Q000235:genetics*; D007133:Immunoglobulin Joining Region / Q000235:genetics*; D051379:Mice; D008815:Mice, Inbred Strains; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic
chemical_list: D007143:Immunoglobulin Heavy Chains; D007133:Immunoglobulin Joining Region