DIFFERENCES IN SPECIFICITY OF THE ANTIGENIC PRODUCTS OF A SERIES OF ALLELES IN THE CHICKEN

Abstract

The purpose of the present study was to investigate further the inheritance of the agglutinability of chicken erythrocytes with normal bovine serum and to determine the genetic relationships of such agglutinogens with those then known to exist in the chicken (BRILES, MCGIBBON and IRWIN 1950). MATERIALS AND METHODS The,chickens used in this study were from a group maintained by the Wisconsin Agricultural Experiment Station for the study of cellular antigens. They were second and third generation crosses of birds derived from Rhode Island Reds, Single Comb White Leghorns and Barred Plymouth Rocks. Blood was taken from the chickens by making a small cut in a wing vein and allowing the blood to run into tubes containing an isotonic solution of sodium citrate (2.00 percent) and sodium chloride (0.42 percent). The cells were washed three times with saline solution (0.75 percent sodium chloride) before they were tested. The bovine sera were obtained from blood taken from the jugular vein. These sera and the chicken isoimmune reagents employed in this study were stored at - 18 to - 23°C. The normal bovine sera were inactivated for 20 minutes at 56°C in a water bath before they were used in testing cells for agglutination. Three different bovine sera were tested in serial dilutions (1 : 1, 1 : 2, 1 : 4, 1 : 8, etc.) against erythrocytes of the various chickens. It was found that the sera were alike