title: The immunoglobulin heavy chain locus in the reptile Anolis carolinensis.
abstract: We describe the entire immunoglobulin heavy chain (IgH) locus from the reptile Anolis carolinensis. The heavy chain constant (C(H)) region includes C mu, C delta and C upsilon genes. This is the first description of a C upsilon gene in the reptilian class. Variable (V(H)), diversity (D(H)) and joining (J(H)) genes are located 5' from the constant (C(H)) chain complex locus. The C mu and C upsilon genes encode antibodies with four immunoglobulin domains. The C delta gene encoded an 11 domain delta heavy chain as in Eublepharis macularius. Seventy V(H) genes, belonging to 28 families, were identified, and they can be sorted into five broader groups. The similarity of the organization of the reptilian genes with those of amphibians and mammals suggests the existence of a process of heavy chain genomic reorganization before the radiation of tetrapod vertebrates.
authors.affiliation: Unidad de Inmunología, Hospital do Meixoeiro, Carretera de Madrid s/no, Vigo 36210, Pontevedra, Spain. fgambon@gmail.com
authors.forename: Francisco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Gambón Deza
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Sánchez Espinel
authors.forename: Susana
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Magadán Mompó
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D015321:Gene Rearrangement / Q000502:physiology; D050438:Genes, Immunoglobulin Heavy Chain; D049810:Genetic Speciation; D008954:Models, Biological; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D012104:Reptiles / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid