BETA-THALASSEMIA IN THE PO-DELTA - SELECTION, GEOGRAPHY, AND POPULATION-STRUCTURE

  • 1 January 1984
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 36  (5) , 1121-1134
Abstract
The allele frequencies for .beta.-thalassemia for 51 localities in the province of Rovigo and in 25 localities in the province of Ferrara, were studied. In the province of Ferrara there is a significant cline of frequencies; these decrease from the coast of the Adriatic Sea toward the west. No such gradient was visible in Rovigo. It was advanced, also on the basis of geography documented by ancient maps, that in the province of Rovigo there were multiple foci of selection for the thalassemia gene and that in the province of Ferrara selection was stronger in the Oriental part of the area. Examination of the isolation by distance model with these data showed that the Malecot-Morton model fits for the Ferrara data and geography, whereas it does not for Rovigo.