Allotypic differences in murine mu genes.

We report the complete DNA sequence of a c-DNA clone of the heavy chain mu b allele of the C57BL/6 mouse. Comparisons have been made with the nucleotide sequences of the germ line BALB/c mu a and the plasmacytoma TEPC-183 mu a alleles reported elsewhere over the entire length of the coding and the 3' untranslated region. In contrast to the extensive differences between the gamma 2a a and b alleles we have reported earlier we see a very high degree of homology between the mu alleles. Only one of the nucleotide differences between C57BL/6 mu b and BALB/c mu a leads to an amino acid substitution. This single amino acid exchange must form the allotypic determinant of the mu b allele. A comparison of four different DNA sequences indicates that they are all distinct IgM alleles.