Isolation of genes encoding bovine IgM, IgG, IgA and IgE chains.

Bovine C mu, C gamma, C alpha and C epsilon genes were cloned in an EMBL4 recombinant phage library using rabbit immunoglobulin switch mu (Su) and human C gamma as probes. Restriction mapping and Southern blot analyses of these clones identified one clone which hybridized with rabbit C mu and JH probes. The HG and C mu regions were separated by 6 kb of DNA. One C alpha and one C epsilon gene were found on overlapping clones and were separated by approximately 15 kb of DNA. Southern blot analysis of germline DNA with a bovine C alpha associated probe (S alpha) indicated that the germline contains a single C alpha gene. Similar analyses with a bovine C epsilon probe indicated that the germline contains either one C epsilon gene with allelic restriction polymorphism or two C epsilon genes. Three C gamma genes were cloned and did not overlap with one another. Southern blot analyses of germline DNA with a bovine C gamma probe indicated that the germline contains a total of four C gamma genes. The genes cloned correspond to three of the four genes identified by Southern blot analysis. The orientation of each CH gene was assigned by hybridization with S mu or S gamma probes. The S gamma probe hybridized to DNA immediately adjacent to all three C genes; the S probe hybridized to DNA immediately adjacent to the C mu, C alpha and C epsilon genes. Unexpectedly, the S mu probe also hybridized with a segment of DNA approximately 7 kb downstream of the C mu gene. This may represent a switch region for C gamma.