Lambda light chain constant and variable gene complements in wild‐derived inbred mouse strains

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Abstract
Previous investigations of lambda light (L) chains in wild‐derived inbred (WDI) mouse strains revealed large variations in serum levels of this L chain type as well as differences in antibody responses in which λ chains predominate. In the present study a diverse group of WDI strains was analyzed by Southern blot analysis using probes for Vλ, Cλ1 and Cλ2 genes in an attempt to correlate the complement of λ genes present in these strains with their λ expression and with their taxonimic classification. All strains studied had two or three DNA sequences that strongly hybridized with a Vλ probe derived from BALB/c; most strains had Vλ, sequences on restriction fragments similar in size to Vλ1 and Vλ2, sequences from BALB/c. Comparison of Cλl and Cλ2genes in WDI mice to those of BALB/c revealed extensive variation both in number of hybridizing fragments and in their sizes. There were no obvious correlations observed between Cλ and Vλ patterns obtained for mouse strains of any phylogenetic group suggesting that constant and variable regions of lambda have evolved indepen‐ dently. In contrast to variations found for Cλ, a single kappa constant region gene appears to be conserved throughout the various mouse species.