Abstract
We have analyzed the organization and the structure of rabbit κ chain genes encoding b allotypes in wild rabbits. The κ1 gene of the b95 allotype was cloned and its structure determined. The J region is composed of five segments but only J2 appears to be functional and is identical to the J2 segment of the b4 allotype. The J region is highly conserved among the various b allotypes, whereas the constant region exon displays a high level of differences when compared with other allotypes (9%–30% of different amino acids). The b95 J region is closer to that of b4var and the constant region to b5 allotype constant region. Alignment of nucleotide sequences revealed that the constant region exon displays segmental similarities with b4 and bas constant regions. The mosaic structure of b95 allotype gene indicates that complex allotypes of κ1 genes may result from genetic exchanges of gene conversion between the different κ genes.
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The nucleotide sequence data reported in this paper have been submitted to the GenBank nucleotide database and have been assigned the accession number M22542.
Address correspondence and offprint requests to: P.-A. Cazenave.
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Ayadi, H., Marche, P.N. & Cazenave, PA. Evolution of the rabbit immunoglobulin κ chain genes. Immunogenetics 34, 201–207 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00205825
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00205825