Abstract
The occurrence of various red blood cell groups and corresponding genes was studied with dogs of various breeds reared in Japan. Thirteen antisera were used to determine the red blood cell groups. The frequency of the red blood cell groups of the DEA1, DEA3, DEA6, D, and J1 systems had distince tendency towards certain canine breeds. In particular, there was a pronounced difference in the frequency of D gene system between indigenous Japanese and European and American breeds. The Japanese breeds, Akita and Shiba, had a high frequency in the D1 gene, while the European and American breeds showed a high frequency in the D2 gene. There was no other deviations in the frequency of genes in any other system of red blood cell groups that might characterize the indigenous Japanese breeds. There was no relationship between sex and the frequency of genes in any system of the red blood cell groups.
