The first standard nomenclature for the chicken (Gallus gallus) major histocompatibility (B) complex published in 1982 describing chicken major histocompatibility complex (MHC) variability is being revised to include subsequent findings. Considerable progress has been made in identifying the genes that define this polymorphic region. Allelic sequences for MHC genes are accumulating at an increasing rate without a standard system of nomenclature in place. The recommendations presented here were derived in workshops held during International Society of Animal Genetics and Avian Immunology Research Group meetings. A nomenclature for B and Y (Rfp-Y) loci and alleles has been developed that can be applied to existing and newly defined haplotypes including recombinants. A list of the current standard B haplotypes is provided with reference stock, allele designations, and GenBank numbers for corresponding MHC class I and class IIbeta sequences. An updated list of proposed names for B recombinant haplotypes is included, as well as a list of over 17 Y haplotypes designated to date.

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The major histocompatibility complex (MHC) of Gallus gallus is the B complex of which three classes of cell-membrane antigens have been clearly defined by serological, histogenetic, and biochemical methods. Two of these classes are homologous to classes I and II of mammals (B-F and B-L, respectively), while the third (B-G) is a differentiation antigen of the erythroid cell-line; the mammalian homologue of this class is still undefined. The B haplotypes comprise at least one gene of each class that displays linkage disequilibrium of a remarkable strength. The present work is the first systematic comparison by serological and histogenetic methods of the allelic products (allomorphs) of 15 haplotypes, including all of the 11 that were accepted as "standard" B haplotypes at the recent international Workshop on the chicken MHC in Innsbruck, Austria. The analysis has revealed many similarities, but only four pairs of probable identities: G2 and G12, F4 and F13, L4 and L13, L12 and L19. It appears therefore that the B-G locus is comparable in its degree of polymorphism to the class I (B-F) locus. The "standard" haplotypes are almost all of White Leghorn derivation, and preliminary typings of other breeds of chickens, and of wild chickens, indicate the existence of a much wider spectrum of allomorphs.

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Autoimmune diseases in human patients only become clinically manifest when the disease process has developed to a stage where functional compensation by the afflicted organ or system is not possible any more. In order to understand the initial etiologic and pathogenic events that are generally not yet accessible in humans, appropriate animal models are required. In this respect, spontaneously developing models -albeit rare -reflect the situation in humans much more closely than experimentally induced models, including knockout and transgenic mice. The present review describes three spontaneous chicken models for human autoimmune diseases, the Obese strain (OS) with a Hashimoto-like autoimmune thyroiditis, the University of California at Davis lines 200 and 206 (UCD-200 and 206) with a scleroderma-like disease and the amelanotic Smyth line with a vitiligo-like syndrome (SLV). Special emphasis is given to the new opportunities to unravel the genetic basis of these diseases in view of the recently completed sequencing of the chicken genome.

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