Molecular characterization and genetic mapping of class I and class II MHC genes of the domestic cat

✍ Scribed by Naoya Yuhki; Stephen J. O'Brien

• Publisher: Springer-Verlag
• Year: 1988
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 1024 KB
• Volume: 27
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0093-7711
• DOI: 10.1007/bf00364427

✦ Synopsis

The major histocompatibility complex (MHC) of the domestic cat has been poorly characterized to date, primarily because of numerous difficulties in the preparation of allotypic sera. We present here a comparative analysis of class I and class II genes in domestic cat populations using molecular probes of the MHC from man and mouse. The cat possesses a minimum of 20 class I loci and 5 class II genes per haploid genome. Class I genes of the domestic cat expressed limited restriction fragment length polymorphism. The average percent difference of the size of DNA fragments between individual cats was 9.0%, a value five times lower than the value for mice, but comparable to the human DNA polymorphism level. Class I and class II genes were both genetically mapped to feline chromosome B2 using a panel of rodent × cat somatic cell hybrids. Since feline chromosome B2 is syntenically homologous to human chromosome 6 and mouse chromosome 17, these results affirm the linkage conservation of the MHC-containing linkage group in the three mammalian orders.