High-Throughput Sequencing of the Zebrafish Antibody Repertoire

Antibody Repertoire Revealed Antibodies produced by B cells protect us against infection by a wide array of pathogens. Such wide-ranging responses are possible because the specific domain of the antibody that binds to the invader is highly variable owing to the somatic recombination of an inherited set of gene segments that encode the antibody molecule. Although antibody diversity within an individual organism is well-established, the specific antibody repertoire of an individual organism has not been characterized. Using high-throughput sequencing technology, Weinstein et al. (p. 807 ) characterized the diversity of the antigen-binding domain of the antibody heavy chain in zebrafish. The antibody repertoire of individual fish covered at least 50% of the possible gene combinations. Although the specific gene combinations differed between fish, a similar frequency distribution of the repertoire was observed. Unexpected examples of evolutionary conversion were also seen, with the same antibody observed in different animals.