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Molecular localization of A chain allotypic specificities in rabbit IgG (7S γglobulin)

1965; Elsevier BV; Volume: 14; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1016/s0022-2836(65)80249-2

1089-8638

R. Hamers, C. Hamers‐Casterman,

Rabbits: Nutrition, Reproduction, Health

This chapter presents the allotypic studies in the rabbit and offers more detailed information on several specific topics to which allotypic studies have contributed. The chapter focuses on the rabbit allotypes and gives an overview of the developments. There is a paucity of structural information on rabbit immunoglobulins and an optimal amount of genetic information has been obtained in studies on this species by the use of the immunoglobulin antigenic markers. The chapter explains allotypic phenomena adequately by involving regulator genes in the linkage, somatic recombination, and selective gene expression that have been observed in genetic studies employing allotypes. It is difficult to visualize these complex genetic relationships in terms of the repressors and corepressors that have been described for nonmammalian systems involving regulation. The possibility has been raised that rabbit immunoglobulin allotypes are not products of allelic structural genes, however are products of regulator genes. The studies on allotypes and idiotypes have made significant contributions to the knowledge of genetic control of immunoglobulin synthesis, knowledge that is, in many instances, relevant to more general biological topics.