title: Immunoglobulin gene hyperconversion ongoing in chicken splenic germinal centers.
abstract: It has been believed that the peripheral lymphocytes in chickens proliferate by self-renewing amplification of the preimmune repertoire generated in bursa. We amplified rearranged immunoglobulin variable (V) region genes from the single germinal centers induced by immunization. The sequence analysis of these genes revealed that most were derived from distinct B-cell clones which expanded locally, generating somatic antibody mutants at a high rate. Somatic hypermutations included unlinked base changes and the linked base modifications interpreted as unidirectional transfer of sequences from V region pseudogenes. This finding demonstrates the ongoing post-bursal diversification of B-cells in splenic germinal centers by templated gene conversion as well as untemplated point mutations.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biophysics, Faculty of Science, Kyoto University, Japan.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Arakawa
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Furusawa
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ekino
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yamagishi
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D001483:Base Sequence; D002060:Bursa of Fabricius / Q000378:metabolism*; D019070:Cell Lineage; D002645:Chickens / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology; D005785:Gene Conversion; D015322:Gene Rearrangement, B-Lymphocyte; D005803:Genes, Immunoglobulin; D018858:Germinal Center / Q000276:immunology; D007114:Immunization; D007135:Immunoglobulin Variable Region / Q000235:genetics*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D017354:Point Mutation; D011544:Pseudogenes; D013698:Templates, Genetic
chemical_list: D007135:Immunoglobulin Variable Region