Fisher-Race DCE Terminology

The existence of three closely linked sets of alleles was postulated by Fisher and Race. Their theory of inheritance stated that one set of genes (haplotype) was inherited from each parent with each gene producing one antigen on the surface of the red cell membrane. Each gene and antigen were given the same letter designation. To denote the gene, the letter was written in italics while the antigen was written in plain type. The phenotype of the red cells is described by the presence or absence of the antigens D, C, E, c, e.

D gene ========= D antigen

C/c gene========C/c antigen

E/e gene=========E/e antigen

An example of a phenotype in the Fisher-Race terminology which tests as follows:

D positive, C positive, E negative, c positive, e positive = DCe/dce