V lambda 2 rearranges with all functional J lambda segments in the mouse.

We have analyzed 210 lambda-producing hybridomas derived from lipopolysaccharide-stimulated spleen cells from a single kappa-suppressed mouse. All were classified as lambda 1, lambda 2 or lambda 3 with the exception of four unusual lines. Two of these were due to V lambda 2 J lambda 1 and the other two to V lambda 2 J lambda 3 rearrangements. The lines were clonally independent since the point of VJ recombination in each one was different. Southern blot analysis of the V lambda 2 C lambda 1-producing lines showed no evidence for an inversion. Under the assumption of a simple deletion model of rearrangement these findings place the V lambda 2 cluster upstream of the V lambda 1 cluster oriented in the same direction.