Electrophoretic and Immunologic Studies on the Chicken Serum and Egg Yolk

Abstract

Electrophoretic and immunologic studies on the partitions of the sera of laying hens and of cocks and egg yolk obtained by ultracentrifugation showed the presence of 2 specialized components, (a low density phospholipo-P-free protein and a phosphoprotein or a phosphoprotein complex) either in the serum of laying hens or in egg yolk, which were not found in the serum of cocks. Each component was capable of producing the specific antibody or antibodies. The specific antibody or antibodies to one specialized component could not be exhausted by absorption with the other component of the serum. Low density phospholipo-P-free protein, found in the top layer of the serum of laying hens, obtained by ultracentrifugation is almost identical with that found in the supernatant solution of egg yolk obtained by ultracentrifugation. This protein is a single antigenic substance as shown by the appearance of only one precipitin zone in the agar-antiserum gel. Phosphoprotein or phosphoprotein complex, found in the sediment of the serum of laying hens, is not identical with that found in the sediment of egg yolk, since the former is soluble in isotonic saline, while the latter is quite insoluble in isotonic saline. The pattern of precipitin reaction zone to the material in sediment of serum in agar-antiserum gel, which showed several zones, differed from that to the material in sediment of yolk.