Glyoxalase 1 (GLO) in the chicken: genetic variation and lack of linkage to the MHC.

Electrophoretic variation of glyoxalase 1 (GLO) has been detected in chicken red-cell lysates. Three phenotypes are shown to be inherited through a diallelic system, just as in humans and mice. The chicken GLO phenotype differ from their mammalian counterparts in that one of the homozygotes is devoid of GLO activity. The heterozygote produces two bands, while the other homozygote yields a single band of GLO activity with mobility equal to the faster of these two bands. In noninbred White Leghorn birds, the GLO2 allele occurred significantly more often in birds homozygous for the B1 allele at the chicken MHC than in those homozygous for B19, suggesting that the products of these loci may have population associations in the chicken. Absence of close linkage between the GLO and B loci was, however, demonstrated by appropriate test crosses.