ISOLATION AND SEQUENCE DETERMINATION OF PORCINE CLASS-II DRB ALLELES AMPLIFIED BY PCR

The first domain exon of a porcine DRB gene was amplified by the polym erase chain reaction (PCR), and the nucleotide sequence was determined . In a material consisting of 10 unrelated animals, five different all eles were identified, all probably belonging to a single locus designa ted DRB1. In addition, a non-expressed locus, designated DRB2, was coa mplified with DRB1. This pseudogene, containing a single base deletion , also exhibited some variation, but at a very restricted level compar ed with DRB1. In pairwise comparisons of DRB1 alleles, the number of a mino acid substitutions ranged between 6 and 21 out of 83 positions co mpared.