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Cloning and sequencing of the ovine gamma‐interferon gene
Author(s) -
RADFORD AJ,
HODGSON ALM,
ROTHEL JS,
WOOD PR
Publication year - 1991
Publication title -
australian veterinary journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.382
H-Index - 59
eISSN - 1751-0813
pISSN - 0005-0423
DOI - 10.1111/j.1751-0813.1991.tb00755.x
Subject(s) - cloning (programming) , gene , biology , immune system , recombinant dna , clone (java method) , dna vaccination , microbiology and biotechnology , molecular cloning , interferon , interferon gamma , polymerase chain reaction , sequence analysis , virology , genetics , complementary dna , computer science , programming language
SUMMARY Cytokines are major modulators of the immune system of all animals. The cloning and expression of recombinant cytokine genes have permitted the analysis of their immune function and role in the control of the immune response to disease and vaccination. While human, murine, and bovine genes have been cloned and sequenced, the cloning of ovine cytokine genes has not yet been reported. As sheep are of dominant economic importance to the Australian farming industry, it is of significance to clone and express these genes to facilitate the development of new and better vaccines and pharmaceuticals. We have initially selected ovine gamma‐interferon ( γ ‐IFN) as a target cytokine gene. By the use of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR), using primers based on the bovine gamma‐interferon sequence, we have amplified the ovine gamma‐interferon gene from crude messenger RNA extracted from lymphocytes. After cloning and DNA sequencing the gene, we found that ovine γ ‐IFN is 93% identifical to bovine γ ‐IFN in amino acid sequence. This result indicates that the PCR method will be a rapid and efficient means for cloning other ovine cytokine genes.