RFrAP: a computer program for analysis of complex HLA RFLPs. Assignment of restriction fragments to haplotypes by...

The availability of HLA class II cDNA probes has led to the development of a powerful method for the discrimination of genetic variation in this region of the major histocompatibility complex. There are problems with this approach which reduce its usefulness, including the hybridization of a probe with multiple restriction fragments (RFs) from the same locus or of two different cDNA probes with the same RF (cross-hybridizing). These problems may now be largely overcome by the relatively simple computer program presented here, which allows the entry, storage, and editing of phenotype data. It includes utilities for the automatic assignment of bands to haplotypes and also statistical functions to determine several types of correlations. The outputs are presented in a format familiar to HLA serologists and immunogeneticists. In addition, the data is stored in a manner that allows the user to easily prepare "ad hoc" figures and tables that illustrate the more complex relationships among bands and between them and other variables.