GM and KM allotypes in eight tribal populations of madyha Pradesh and Orissa, India

Summary Serum samples from eight endogamous Indian tribal populations of Madhya Pradesh (Dhurwa, Halba, Bhatra, Muria, Maria) and Orissa (Deshia Khond, Binjhal, Kisan) with a total of n=731 unrelated individuals were typed for G1M (1,2,3,17), G3M (5,10,11,13,14,15,16,21,26), and KM (1). In seven of these populations five different GM haplotypes were found:GM*1,17;21,26; GM*1,17;10,11,13,15,16; GM*1,2,17;21,26; GM*1,3;5,10,11,13,14,26; andGM*3;5,10,11,13,14,26. In the Kisan sample the haplotypeGM*1,2,17; 21,26 is absent. The intergroup variability in the distribution of these haplotypes is considerable and statistically highly significant. The reasons for that can be attributed to the ethnohistory and to the genetic isolation of these eight endogamous tribal populations. The GM haplotype distribution pattern of all these groups is quite different from that of the non-tribal populations of India, whereas it is in good agreement with that of the so far tested other tribal populations from India. This can be explained by different origin and history of the Indian tribal and non-tribal populations. In the KM system, too, remarkable variability is seen in the distribution of phenotype and allele frequencies among the eight tribal populations under study.