Abstract
Hemagglutination by vaccinia and some other viruses, as well as by purified phospholipids and a variety of Wasserman antigens is an inherited trait in the chicken (1). Failure to agglutinate is a recessive autosomal trait not previously associated with any other known gene (2). We have now found that alleles determining the K system of erythrocyte (RBC) isoantigens appear to control quantitatively the hemagglutination titer for vaccinia virus. Specific K genotypes of chicken RBC may permit a very sensitive assay for viruses that have a phospholipid hemagglutinin. This observation may also provide an explanation for some of the polymorphism of RBC surface antigens based on the selective value of cell surface properties other than antigen–antibody reactions, in this case phospholipid absorption.
RBC of mature individual birds from several lines polymorphic for the 12 isoagglu–tinating blood group systems A, B, C, D, E, H, I, J, K, L, P and R were tested for isoantigens of each system using a large panel of isoantisera (3–4).
Red cells of these birds were tested for hemagglutination by mumps, rubella, and vaccinia viruses using standard techniques (5). All virus hemagglutinins were produced in the Laboratory of Viral Immunology, Division of Biologic Standards. We thank Dr. L. Barker for the vaccinia hemagglutinin and Dr. F. Ennis for the mumps hemagglutinin, each grown on chicken chorioallantoic membrane. The rubella hemagglutinin was grown on BHK/21 cells (6). Retests on the same bleedings and on repeat bleedings of individuals over a 3–mo period each gave a mean difference of less than one twofold dilution for each of the three viral antigens.
The range of hemagglutination titers for vaccinia was 0 to 10,240 for adult cells while pooled cells from 1–day–old chicks did not agglutinate.
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