somatic recombination of immunoglobulin gene segments V(D)J recombination immunoglobulin V(D)J recombination immunoglobulin V-D-J joining immunoglobulin V-J joining immunoglobulin V-J recombination immunoglobulin V(D)J joining immunoglobulin V-D-J recombination The process in which immunoglobulin gene segments are recombined within a single locus utilizing the conserved heptamer and nonomer recombination signal sequences (RSS). For immunoglobulin heavy chains V, D, and J gene segments are joined, and for immunoglobulin light chains V and J gene segments are joined. GO:0033152 biological_process