GEOGRAPHICAL SURVEY OF BETA-S-GLOBIN GENE HAPLOTYPES - EVIDENCE FOR AN INDEPENDENT ASIAN ORIGIN OF THE SICKLE-CELL MUTATION

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  • 1 August 1986
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 39  (2) , 239-244
Abstract
The haplotypes of 152 .beta.S-chromosomes were characterized in six different population groups. The chromosomes of individuals from Nigeria and from the southwest of the Arabian peninsula have the haplotype ----+ +-+ previously found in west African, Jamaican, and U.S. American blacks, whereas those from the eastern oases of Saudi Arabia and from the west and the east coast of India showed a different haplotype not found in Africa (++-++ ++-). These data are most consistent with an independent Asian origin of the sickle-cell mutation and provide further information about the geographic distribution of .beta.S-haplotypes in the Old World. The distribution of the Asian .beta.S-haplotype corresponds to the reported geographic distribution of a mild clinical phenotype of homozygous SS disease.