Inheritance of adenosine deaminase variants in chickens and turkeys

Blood cell lysates of chickens and turkeys were subjected to starch gel electrophoresis and the gels were stained for adenosine deaminase. Two zones were observed singly or together in the electrophoretic patterns of each lysate. Zones of chicken lysates were analogous in electrophoretic mobility to those of turkeys. An extra zone which appeared in patterns of a sample stored over one month was not detected in patterns of a second aliquot of stored sample treated with a reducing agent prior to electrophoresis.
Family data involving 110 chicken progeny and 221 turkey progeny supported the hypothesis that these zones were controlled by two codominant alleles designated ADA.⁴ and ADA^B. In the two Leghorn strains studied ADA^B was much more frequent than ADA.⁴, but the frequency distribution was reversed in the Small White turkey strain examined.