Isolation and sequence of sheep Ig H and L chain cDNA.

Sheep lymphocyte poly(A+) RNA was used as a template for the enzymatic synthesis of cDNA before cloning into the expression vector lambda gt11. Screening of the cDNA library with mAb probes resulted in the isolation of two recombinant phages containing Ig coding sequences of 704 bp and 925 bp. These were inserted into the EcoRI site of pUC18 and named pSLC (sheep Ig L chain) and pSHC (sheep Ig H chain). The insert in pSLC revealed sequence homology by using GenBank to lambda L chain and pSHC revealed sequence homology to IgG sequences from various species. The L chain cDNA contained the full translation sequence and 5' and 3' nontranslating region while the H chain cDNA coded for the secreted form of IgG1 and lacked sequences upstream from the C region. The derived amino acid sequences showed significant homology with various Ig sequences already described for human, mouse, rabbit, pig, and chicken but the degree of homology showed no consistency with established phylogenetic relationships.