Autosomal determination of erythrocyte glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase in domestic chickens and ring-necked pheasants

Erythrocyte glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase isozymes of domestic chickens, ring-necked pheasants, and their hybrids were studied, using the starch gel zone electrophoresis technique. In domestic chickens G6PD isozymes were represented by two fast-moving bands and an indistinct third band, whereas in ring-necked pheasants a slow-moving broad band which seemed to consist of two closely apposed G6PD isozymes was observed. The F₁ hybrids showed three distinct bands combining the characteristic mobility pattern of the two parents, which seemed to indicate that both parental alleles are expressed in F₁ hybrids. Since both male and female hybrids exhibited strikingly similar isozyme patterns representing both sire and dam, it was assumed that the genes controlling the production of G6PD in chicken and pheasant red blood cells are located on the autosomes.This study was supported in part by a research grant from the National Research Council of Canada.