Immunochemical study of relationships between erythrocyte glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD, E.C. 1.1.1.49) of various mammalian species

1. 1. Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) activity and electrophoretic mobility were investigated in the red cells of fifteen species belonging to different mammalian families. The results indicated a marked heterogeneity not clearly correlated to the phylogenetic relationships between the species. 2. 2. Antisera against the non-hemoglobin protein fraction of human and bovine erythrocytes were prepared. 3. 3. Immunodiffusion coupled with a specific chromogenic reaction demonstrated a common antigenic determinant in the G6PD of man and the Cercopithecidae, Bovidae, Equidae and Canidae families. The anti-human serum revealed also a specific determinant in the enzymes of man and the Cercopithecidae. The anti-bovine serum demonstrated a specific determinant in the G6PD of the Bovidae.