2005 Volume 42 Issue 3 Pages 272-281
In the present study, Southern hybridization analysis was used to investigate whether segregated major histocompatibility complex (MHC) genes were selected in two partly inbred Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica) lines, the H and L lines, which were selected for high (H) and low (L) antibody response against inactivated Newcastle disease virus (NDV) vaccine as a result of breeding over 45 generations by reciprocal mating. The results showed that the each restriction fragments length polymorphisms (PFLP) pattern of MHC class I, II and IV of all the individuals within the H and L lines were identical. The RFLP patterns of MHC class II in F1 offspring resulting from the H and L lines were inherited equally. This suggested that divergent selection for antibody response to inactivated NDV in Japanese quails might have induced two different MHC-homozygous lines.
