Immunological studies of egg white proteins. II. Resolution of the quantitative precipitin reaction between chicken egg white and rabbit anti egg-white serum in terms of the reactions of purified egg white proteins.

It has been possible to resolve a portion of the curve describing the precipitin reaction between egg white and anti-egg white rabbit serum as the sum of the individual reactions between purified ovalbumin, conalbumin, lysozyme and ovomucoid with their corresponding antibodies in anti-egg white serum. The four proteins studied comprise approximately 92% of egg white protein, yet an unexpectedly small proportion of the total antibody in anti-egg white serum is directed against them. Most of the antibody response is to minor and as yet poorly defined antigenic components of egg white.