Further study on a BF silent allele.

A family was found which indicated the existence of a silent allele (BF*QO) at the locus for complement factor B. Three generations with eight members were studied. Four individuals were considered to be heterozygous for B deficiency because of unusual segregation patterns of the BF electrophoretic variants and low levels of B. Haplotype study on the other HLA-linked markers supported the presumption. No unusual products were detected by immunoblotting after sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE).