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Recombination, transcription, and diversity of a partially germline-joined VH in a mammal

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Abstract

Full or partially germline-joined V genes have been described in a number of different vertebrate lineages where they can contribute to the expressed antibody repertoire through different mechanisms. Here we demonstrate that VH3.1, a partially germline-joined VH gene in the opossum Monodelphis domestica, can undergo V(D)J recombination to generate productive IgH transcripts. VH3.1 is fused to a DH gene segment in the germline DNA and is the only known example of a germline-joined VH in a mammal. B cells that have recombined VH3.1 were not detected until nearly 2 months of age, around the time of weaning, and much later than B cells using the conventional VH. Compared to opossum IgH transcripts using the conventional VH genes, those with VH3.1 have unusually long CDR3 due to the length of the germline-joined DH.

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Acknowledgments

This article was made possible in part by support from the National Institutes of Health grant no. P20 GM103452-09 from the Institutional Development Award program and National Science Foundation award IOS-0641382.

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  1. Center for Evolutionary and Theoretical Immunology, Department of Biology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, 87131, USA

    Xinxin Wang & Robert D. Miller

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  1. Xinxin Wang
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  2. Robert D. Miller
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Correspondence to Robert D. Miller.

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Wang, X., Miller, R.D. Recombination, transcription, and diversity of a partially germline-joined VH in a mammal. Immunogenetics 64, 713–717 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00251-012-0627-z

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