title: Equine immunoglobulins and organization of immunoglobulin genes.
abstract: Our understanding of how equine immunoglobulin genes are organized has increased significantly in recent years. For equine heavy chains, 52 IGHV, 40 IGHD, 8 IGHJ and 11 IGHC are present. Seven of these IGHCs are gamma chain genes. Sequence diversity is increasing between fetal, neonatal, foal and adult age. The kappa light chain contains 60 IGKV, 5 IGKJ and 1 IGKC, whereas there are 144 IGLV, 7 IGLJ, and 7 IGLC for the lambda light chain, which is expressed predominantly in horses. Significant transcriptional differences for IGLV and IGLC are identified in different breeds. Allotypic and allelic variants are observed for IGLC1, IGLC5, and IGLC6/7, and two IGLV pseudogenes are also transcribed. During age development, a decrease in IGLVs is noted, although nucleotide diversity and significant differences in gene usage increased. The following paper suggests a standardization of the existing nomenclature of immunoglobulin genes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Sciences, Institute of Veterinary Medicine, Division of Microbiology and Animal Hygiene, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, Georg-August University Göttingen, Burckhardtweg 2, 37077 Göttingen, Germany. Electronic address: swalthe@gwdg.de.
authors.forename: Stefanie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Walther
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Sciences, Institute of Veterinary Medicine, Division of Microbiology and Animal Hygiene, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, Georg-August University Göttingen, Burckhardtweg 2, 37077 Göttingen, Germany. Electronic address: trusitz@gwdg.de.
authors.forename: Tamara V
authors.initials: TV
authors.lastname: Rusitzka
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Viral Diseases, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA. Electronic address: ulrike.diesterbeck@nih.gov.
authors.forename: Ulrike S
authors.initials: US
authors.lastname: Diesterbeck
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Sciences, Institute of Veterinary Medicine, Division of Microbiology and Animal Hygiene, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, Georg-August University Göttingen, Burckhardtweg 2, 37077 Göttingen, Germany. Electronic address: cczerny@gwdg.de.
authors.forename: Claus-Peter
authors.initials: CP
authors.lastname: Czerny
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D006736:Horses; D007107:Immune System / Q000196:embryology / Q000502:physiology*; D056724:Immunity, Humoral; D007126:Immunoglobulin Allotypes / Q000235:genetics; D007136:Immunoglobulins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D009626:Terminology as Topic; D015533:Transcriptional Activation / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D007126:Immunoglobulin Allotypes; D007136:Immunoglobulins
keywords: Allotype; Diversity; Equine developmental stages; Horse; Immunoglobulin genes; Immunoglobulin heavy and light chains