SEROTYPE SWITCHING IN A PARTIALLY DELETED RHD GENE

We have studied the RH genes in donors with the RhD-negative haplotype dCe(s). In contrast to the usual arrangement of genes in RhD-negative individuals, where the lack of antigen expression is due to deletion of the entire RHD gene, we find that the dCe(s) haplotype includes an RHD gene with an internal deletion. Moreover, there appear to be no 5' sequences characteristic of RHC suggesting that the RhC antigen may b e encoded by a truncated RHD or a recombinant RHD/CE gene in these dCe (s)/dce genomes.