The proteins of the bovine erythrocyte membrane were analyzed by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis in sodium dodecyl sulfate, and their relations to the slow sedimentation rate of bovine erythrocytes were investigated by treating the erythrocytes with trypsin. The erythrocyte sedimentation rates of bovine erythrocytes from Holstein and Korean native cattle were very slow compared with the human one (1/7 as slow as the human one) as reported previously. However, when human and Holstein erythrocytes were treated with trypsin (0.2 and 0.5 mg/ml) for 1 hour at 37deg C, their sedimentation rates were markedly accelerated while the sedimentation rate of Korean native cattle's erythrocytes were not affected. Although the general protein profiles of the bovine erythrocyte membranes were almost similar to that of human, bovine erythrocyte membranes showed one additional protein band called band Q in this study, which migrated electrophoretically to the mid-position between band 2 and band 3 in human erythrocyte membranes. Treatment of Holstein and human erythrocytes with trypsin caused a decrease or disappearance of the band Q from the erythrocyte membrane. Although the band Q in Korean native cattle's erythrocyte membrane was decreased by trypsin treatment of the erythrocytes, the magnitude of the decrement was not so pronounced as in the case of human and Holstein erythrocytes. The glycoprotein profiles of the bovine erythrocyte membranes revealed by periodic acid-Schiff stain showed a marked difference from that of human. The PAS-1 (glycophorin) and PAS-2 (sialoglycoprotein) present in human erythrocyte membrane were almost absent from the bovine erythrocyte membranes. Instead, the bovine erythrocyte membranes showed a strong PAS-positive band near the origin of the electrophorograms, which is named as PAS-B in this study