We studied a 26-year-old Portuguese patient with recessively transmitted hereditary hemolytic anemia. Protein 4.2 was absent from red cell ghosts by Western blotting. Although the 4.2 mRNA was not detected in Northern blots, it was shown to be present by a procedure based on nested reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Partial nucleotide sequencing disclosed a one-nucleotide deletion at nt 264 (or 265): AAG GTG-->AAG TG, in codon 88 (or 89) belonging to exon 2. This change, defining allele 4.2 Lisboa, placed in frame the nonsense triplet that normally overlaps codons 136 and 137 (GTG ACC). This mutation, which abolishes an EcoNI site, was also found in the gene of the proband (homozygous state), her parents, and her brother (heterozygous state). Apart from anemia, the patient was free of clinical manifestations. Platelet membranes were also investigated using Western blots. Antibodies to red cell protein 4.2 showed a doublet (72 and 70 kD) both in the controls and the patient. This finding raises an interesting question concerning the relationship between this doublet and erythroid protein 4.2.