Molecular genetic analyses of the major histocompatibility complex in pig families and recombinants

Five HLA probes, one corresponding to class I genes, two corresponding to distinct class II light chain genes, DR beta and DQ beta, and two to class II heavy chain genes, DR alpha and DQ alpha, were used to analyse the genomic DNA of the pig. Three informative SLA typed families and four SLA recombinants were studied by Southern blot analysis. About 16 restriction fragments, generated by EcoR1 or Hind III endonucleases, were revealed for each individual, either with the class I probe or the DR beta probe. The number of restriction fragments which hybridized with the other probes was generally lower. Several restriction fragment-length polymorphisms were found and these segregated with SLA haplotypes. The studies on SLA recombinants showed that SLA DR beta- and DQ alpha-like genes are probably tightly clustered within the SLA-D-MLR region.