Subtypic linearity in the bovine B blood group system

The technique of proteolytic digestion employing the enzymes trypsin, chymotrypsin, and protease was used to investigate the physical order of subtypic determinants occurring on bovine erythrocytes. In the B system subgroup Y1, Y2, the determinants behaved as if linearly arranged in the same order as predicted from their serological behavior; furthermore, the differences between the two subtypes appeared to be quantitative rather than qualitative. In the E'1, E'2, E'3 subgroup, however, the subtypic determinants did not appear to be physically linear, although they are serologically linear.