Deletion mapping by immunoselection against the H-Y histocompatibility antigen further resolves the Sxra region of the mouse Y chromosome and reveals complexity of the Hya locus.

A genetic map of the mammalian Y chromosome cannot be produced by standard Mendelian methods because the Y does not participate in meiotic exchange over the majority of its length. However, deletion mapping of the mouse Y chromosome is facilitated by the fact that its short arm carries the histocompatibility-Y (Hya) locus. This locus encodes male-specific (H-Y) antigens that can be selected against in tissue culture by the technique of immunoselection. To produce cells carrying deletions, cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) specific for H-Y antigens were cocultured with a lymphoblastoid cell line derived from a mouse carrying the portion of the short arm defined by the Sxra translocation on the distal end of its X chromosome. H-Y antigen-loss variant cells that contained Y-specific deletions were identified. Molecular, karyotypic, and immunological analysis of the deletion variants allowed us to define up to 16 ordered intervals and suggested an overall organization of Sxra. The analysis also suggests that at least two and up to five distinct loci encode H-Y antigens.