Molecular organization of the canine major histocompatibility complex

The major histocompatibility complex (MHC) is composed of a tightly linked cluster of genes; in dogs, this is referred to as the dog leukocyte antigen (DLA) region. The canine MHC is located on chromosome 12, and several genes within the DLA region have been identified that have significant sequence similarity to their human counterparts. However, in order to characterize other loci in the DLA region, DNA sequencing has begun using a canine bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) library. Initially 135 BAC clones were isolated from a BAC library using a mixture of human and canine probes. These BAC clones were screened with locus-specific primers in polymerase chain reactions (PCRs). Fifty-six BAC clones were subjected to FingerPrinted Contig (FPC) analysis and several overlapping clones were identified. One BAC clone RP81-231-G24 has been sequenced. Preliminary sequence analysis of this 150 kb clone indicates that it contains the region where the class I and class III regions are joined and encompasses DLA-12a, DLA-53, DLA-12, DLA-64, TNF-alpha, and a canine gene that appears to resemble the HLA class III gene HSPA1A (HSP70-1).