MOLECULAR-CLONING OF BOTTLE-NOSED-DOLPHIN (TURSIOPS-TRUNCATUS) MHC CLASS-I CDNA

Using polymerase chain reaction, bottle-nosed dolphin (Tursiops trunca tus) major histocompatibility complex (DoLA) class Ia chain cDNA was c loned and sequenced. Predicted amino acid sequences of DoLA class I al pha chain have cystein residues for intradomain disulfide bond formati on and N-linked glycosylation sites, suggesting that DoLA class I alph a chain molecules construct alpha 1, alpha 2, and alpha 3 domain struc tures. Similarity of DoLA class I alpha chain cDNA to land mammal MHC class I alpha chain cDNA was 90.4% in cattle, 90.2% in horse, 89.4% in sheep, and 87.8% in human. This investigation suggests that DoLA is c losely related to land mammals.