TY - JOUR AU - WOOD, PR AB - 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. TI - Cloning and sequencing of the ovine gamma‐interferon gene JO - Australian Veterinary Journal DO - 10.1111/j.1751-0813.1991.tb00755.x DA - 1991-01-01 UR - https://www.deepdyve.com/lp/wiley/cloning-and-sequencing-of-the-ovine-gamma-interferon-gene-2V4KM0XOSJ SP - 82 EP - 84 VL - 68 IS - 3 DP - DeepDyve ER -