Electrophoretic Evaluation of Blood Sera Proteins of Adult Male Chickens

SIX protein fractions have been reported to be present in the blood serum of the cock (McCully et al., 1959; McKinley et al., 1953; Heim and Schectman, 1954). These fractions were separated by zone electrophoresis on paper using aqueous veronal or borate buffer. The six protein zones were designated in order of decreasing mobility as: albumin, alpha-1-globulin, alpha-2-globulin, alpha-3-globulin, beta globulin and gamma globulin. In addition to these six fractions. Brandt et al. (1951) found a fraction (pre-albumin) moving ahead of albumin in the sera of laying hens. This pre-albumin was apparently absent in the sera of males (Brandt et al., 1951; Heim and Schectman, 1954). In contrast to these findings, Kristjansson et al. (1963) using vertical starch gel electrophoresis found two protein fractions migrating in front of albumin in the sera of males. A third pre-albumin was only present in the sera of hens in production. The present study…