Spatial arrangement of pig MHC class I sequences

Bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) clones were assigned within the pig major histocompatibility complex (Mhc) by polymerase chain reaction-screening and Southern blot hybridization using sequence-tagged site (STS) markers and BAC end-rescued sequences. In all, 35 BAC clones were discovered containing 12 anchor genes of the SLA class I region and two genes of the SLA class III region. Twenty of these 35 clones comprised two distinct class I gene clusters, each spanning about 100 kilobases. One cluster enclosed three class I related genes (SLA-6 to -8) and two genes (MIC-1 and MIC-2) more distantly related to class I. The other cluster enclosed typical class I genes, of which three (SLA-1, -2, and -3) were transcribed by fibroblasts homozygous for the H01 haplotype which we used to construct a pig BAC library. Ordered clones are certainly helpful in isolating agronomically, biologically, and medically important genes. They would also be useful for inducing genetic modifications in pig cell lines.