A Population Genetic Study of the Vania Soni in Western India

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Abstract
A total of 267 blood samples from persons belonging to the Shrimali Vania Soni caste group in Gujarat State, Western India were analyzed for 6 blood groups, 4 serum proteins and 19 red cell enzyme systems, for Hb and .beta.-thalassemia and for red-green color blindness. A number of rare genetic variants were detected, including a unique electrophoretically fast variant of superoxide dismutase. Genetic distance comparisons with other caste groups in Gujarat State show that Vania Soni from Surat are a distinctive group clustering with another subdivision of the Vania. The remaining Vania Soni cluster together and are distinct from the other caste groups examined in Gujarat. On the basis of individual genetic markers the Vania Soni appear not to be genetically differentiated in any remarkable way from other Hindu populations in western and northern India.