Linkage of C4 and C4 deficiency to BF and GPLA

The C4, Bf, and GPLA phenotypes of homo- and heterozygous C4-deficient guinea pigs were studied. The electrophoretic patterns suggest that the deficiency in circulating C4 results from an impaired structural gene, allelic to the C4F, C4S, and C4S1 alleles at the C4 locus. In family studies, support for linkage of C4 and Bf to theGPLA system was obtained. The defective gene appears to be the fourth allele, which is rare, in the polymorphism of the fourth component of guinea pig complement.