Applicability of SSCP analysis for MHC genotyping: fingerprinting of Ovar-DRB1 exon 2 alleles from Finnish and Russian breeds.

The applicability of single strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP) analysis for major histocompatibility complex (MHC) genotyping in sheep was studied. A panel of Ovar-DRB1 exon 2 'allele fingerprints' was defined. The panel could accelerate DRB1 genotyping of new breeds when already existing sequences are used as references in SSCP analysis. In this study, seven new exon 2 sequences and 19 different alleles in total were detected from 31 animals of Finnish and Russian sheep breeds. Ovar-DRB1*0201 was detected in all the six grey Finnsheep animals included in this study, suggesting reduced MHC diversity within these animals.