Genetic regulation of immunoglobulin synthesis: selection of two rats' lines with respectively a high or low IgM serum level.
Two directional selections of rats for a high or a low IgM serum levels have been carried out. The criterium of selection was the individual merit of each rat in having a high or a low IgM level when they were 3 months old. All animals were kept together, in order to avoid external influence on the IgM synthesis. The founding population was a mixed nucleus of rats, obtained by breeding of 13 different strains of inbred or outbred rats for two generations. Two lines, one with a high IgM serum level and another with a low IgM serum level, have been separated. At generation 10, they differed from each other by a coefficient of approximately four. These IgM serum levels were not due to differences in IgM catabolism of the two lines since both lines had similar IgM half-lives. Analyses of the data obtained show that, for IgM synthesis, the coefficient of heritability varies between 0.30 to 0.40, and the number of 'independent loci' controlling IgM synthesis ranges from 11 to 14.
D000818:Animals; D000917:Antibody Formation; D005802:Genes, MHC Class II; D007075:Immunoglobulin M / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D051381:Rats / Q000276:immunology*
D007075:Immunoglobulin M