LINKAGE MAPPING AND PARTIAL SEQUENCING OF 10 CDNA LOCI IN THE CHICKEN

Ten cDNA clones derived from chicken spleen cell mRNA have been partia lly sequenced and the genes which encode the mRNAs have been located w ithin the linkage map of the chicken genome. The sequences of five of these clones show strong homology to known mammalian genes, the remain der show little homology to sequences present in the current databases . Interestingly, one of these clones appears to be the chicken homolog ue of the mammalian peptide transporter gene TAP2 and is located withi n the major histocompatibility complex. Two other clones are homologou s to genes involved in protein synthesis and these are tightly linked in chickens, as in mice. These results suggest that partial sequencing and mapping of clones from selective cDNA libraries may be an efficie nt way of adding candidate genes to the chicken linkage map and that o n a local scale there may be some conservation of grouping of genes be tween chickens and mammalian species.