Sheep histocompatibility antigens: a population level comparison between lymphocyte antigens previously defined in France, England and Scotland, and sheep red cell groups.

A comparison test was performed to look for correlations between the three nomenclature systems for sheep histocompatibility antigens which have been previously described in France, England and Scotland. 187 French sheep from a wide variety of breeds were typed for lymphocyte antigens with antisera which detect the OLA, P and ED series of antigens; they were also tested against 387 uncharacterized French antisera. Six clusters of sera were found which showed correspondence between antigens of at least two of the three nomenclatures; five of these clusters gave high r values of 0.78-0.94. New antisera from French sheep were found which contributed to the above clusters but few additional clusters were noted. No correlation was found between any of the lymphocyte groups of antisera tested and the sheep red cell antigens which were also tested.