Atypical cholinesterase gene E1a: rarity in Negroes and most Orientals.

Development of a rapid screening test for atypical cholinesterase in serum enabled large-scale surveys of populations. The frequency of the heterozygous trait among Greeks, Yugoslavs, and East Indians was similar to that among United States Caucasians (2.8 to 3.

Autosomal phosphogluconic dehydrogenase polymorphism in the cat (Felis catus L.).

Three patterns of 6-phosphogluconic dehydrogenase activity were obtained by starch-gel electrophoresis of blood from domestic cats. Genetic analysis indicates control of these patterns by a pair of alleles at an autosomal locus. Presence of three enzymatically active bands in heterozygotes and of single bands in homozygotes is compatible with at least a dimeric structure for the enzyme.

Negro variant of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency (A-) in man.

Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase in erythrocytes of the Negro type associated with enzyme deficiency (A(-)) was separated by chromatography on a carboxymethyl-Sephadex column from the electrophoretically indistinguishable Negro variant with normal enzyme activity (A(+)). Quantitative immunologic neutralization tests indicated that the A(-) enzyme had about the same enzymatic and serological activity as the A(+) and the normal (B(+)) enzymes. The enzyme activity of the A(-) variant in young erythrocytes was similar to that in young cells from normal individuals, although the activity of the A(-) variant in unfractionated red cells was 10 to 15 percent of normal.