Allelic exclusion in rat kappa immunoglobulin chains: extent of Jk rearrangement in normal B lymphocytes.

The frequency of normal rat peripheral B lymphocytes stained for surface immunoglobulin kappa allotypes a and b in (a X b) F1 heterozygotes was assessed by two-colour immunofluorescence on a fluorescence-activated cell sorter. The upper limit to the frequency of double- stainers was 8% among all kappa-positive cells, though it was not resolved how far cytophilic antibody accounted for these. Cells expressing each allotype singly were isolated and the extent of rearrangement of the genes encoding the joining-kappa segment on the expressed and non-expressed chromosome were independently assessed. The expressed allele was found to be virtually completely rearranged while the non-expressed allele showed approximately 45-60% rearrangement. The implications of this substantial non-productive rearrangement for models of allelic exclusion are discussed.