Genetic distances among the Ho tribe and other groups of Central Indians

The Ho, a settled tribal group of Chota Nagpur, India, were tested for five genetic characters. Genetic distance among eleven tribal groups of Bihar, Orissa and Madhya Pradesh are calculated according to Edwards ('71). Affinities of these tribes are discussed taking into consideration the languages spoken by them. These breeding groups may have drifted apart along the paths of their dialect differentiations. Cultural and geographical factors further enhanced their isolation.     

Genetic distances among the five tribal populations of Andhra, Pradesh, South India.

In this paper, data on genetic distances among five tribal populations ae given. Among the five tribes, Koya Dora, Raj Gond and Naikpod are autochthonous populations of the Deccan plateau whereas the other two groups, Pardhan and Lambadi are migrants. Kova Doras were sampled from five distant localities. Genetic markers typed are: A1A2B0, Rho(D) blood group systems glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency, transferrin, haptoglobin, groupspecific component, haemoglobin, colour-vision deficiency and tastability to P. T. C. Using frequency data for the above nine genetic loci, genetic distances between the five endogamous tribes, and between the five groups of Koya Dora are calculated by adopting the statistical method of Edwards (1971). While genetic distances between Koya Dora, Raj Gond and Lambadi are minimal, the genetic distance between Pardhans and other tribal groups is maximum. Naikpods occupy an intermediate position. The closeness of Lambadi with Koya Dora and RAJ Gond can be regarded as coincidental. Interestingly, the differences in the genetic distance values between five Koya Dora groups are as great as the differences between the five endogamous tribal populations tested for the same loci. Genetic affinities of these tribal populations are discussed in relation to their ethnic origin migration and geographical isolation.     

Convergent evolution in the tribes of Bastar

An investigation of the ABO blood groups, the sickle cell trait, and the ability to taste phenylthiocarbamide among four endogamous tribal groups of Bastar in Central India is reported. These tribles, the Raj Gonds, the Murias, the Bhatras and the Halbas are shown to resemble one another in the genetic traits investigated to a remarkable degree, despite genetic and social isolation from each other. It is suggested that similarities between the tribes is due to their having shared a common geographical environment for hundreds of generations.     

Behavior measurement and population change

Abstract

Selection intensity, as indicated by total pre‐reproductive mortality and fertility (Crow, 1958), was computed among three Indian tribal populations living in similar geographical environments—the Kolams, Raj Gonds, and Pardhans of Adilabad District, Andhra Pradesh. The Pardhans showed the greatest selection intensity, (1.1811) followed by the Kolams (0.8564) and Raj Gonds (0.7240). Pre‐reproductive mortality and infertility contributed equally to selection intensity in these tribal groups.     

Distribution of A1A2BO and Rho (D) blood groups in tribal populations of Andhra Pradesh, South India.

The paper reports the distribution of A1A2BO and Rho (D) blood groups among five tribal populations, Koya Dora, Raj Gond, Naikpod, Pardhan and Lambadi from three districts of Andhra Pradesh, South India. Blood samples from a total of 1090 unrelated individuals were tested. Koya Doras were, however, sampled from five distant localities to find out intratribal variation, if any. In A1A2BO blood group system the combined frequencies of "P1" and "P2" among the five Koya Groups always exceeded the frequency of "q", a characteristic feature of many tribal populations of Andhra Pradesh. However, among Raj Gond, Naikpod, Pardhan and Lambadi tribes the frequency of "q" is higher than "p" with the maximum in Pardhans. The frequency of "r" is always higher than the combined frequencies of "p1" and "p2" except in Raj Gonds. The higher frequency of "q" over "p" among Naikpod, Pardhan and Lambadi tribes is indicative of a tendency towards the distribution pattern found in North India. A few Rh negative persons were detected only in Koya Dora, Raj Gond and Lambadis indicating that the allele r (cde) is present in these populations, although in a low frequency.     

Genomic Structure of the Immigrant Siddis of East Africa to Southern India: A Study of 20 Autosomal DNA Markers

The Siddis are a tribal group of African origin living in Karnataka, India. They have undergone considerable cultural change due to their proximity to neighboring population groups. To understand the biological consequences of these changes, we describe the genomic structure of the Siddis and the contribution from putative ancestral populations using 20 autosomal DNA markers. The distribution of Alu indel markers and a genetic distance analysis reveals their closer affinities with Africans. The levels of genomic diversity and heterozygosity are high in all the populations of southern India. Genetic admixture analysis reveals a predominant contribution from Africans, a lesser contribution from south Indians, and a slight one from Europeans. There is no evidence of gametic disequilibrium in the Siddis. The genetic homogeneity of the Siddis, in spite of its admixed origin, suggests the utility of this population for genetic epidemiological studies.     

Microsatellite diversity among the primitive tribes of India

The present study was undertaken to determine the extent of diversity at 12 microsatellite short tandem repeat (STR) loci in seven primitive tribal populations of India with diverse linguistic and geographic backgrounds. DNA samples of 160 unrelated individuals were analyzed for 12 STR loci by multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Gene diversity analysis suggested that the average heterozygosity was uniformly high ( >0.7) in these groups and varied from 0.705 to 0.794. The Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium analysis revealed that these populations were in genetic equilibrium at almost all the loci. The overall G(ST) value was high (G(ST) = 0.051; range between 0.026 and 0.098 among the loci), reflecting the degree of differentiation/heterogeneity of seven populations studied for these loci. The cluster analysis and multidimensional scaling of genetic distances reveal two broad clusters of populations, besides Moolu Kurumba maintaining their distinct genetic identity vis-à-vis other populations. The genetic affinity for the three tribes of the Indo-European family could be explained based on geography and Language but not for the four Dravidian tribes as reflected by the NJT and MDS plots. For the overall data, the insignificant MANTEL correlations between genetic, linguistic and geographic distances suggest that the genetic variation among these tribes is not patterned along geographic and/or linguistic lines.     

The genetic demography of the Gainj of Papua New Guinea. I. Local differentiation of blood group,red cell enzyme,and serum protein allele frequencies

Allele frequencies are reported for 19 blood group, red cell enzyme, and serum protein loci (ABO, Rh, MN, Hb-A, LDH-A, LDH-B, SOD, PGM-1, PGM-2, 6PGD, GPT, ESD, ADA, ACP, PGK, MDH, Alb, Hp, and Tf) determined from 310 blood samples collected among the Gainj, a small population of tribal horticulturalists from highland Papua New Guinea. Fourteen of these loci display genetic variants, and ten of them are sufficiently polymorphic to permit a preliminary analysis of Gainj population structure. Patterns of variation among subdivisions of the population are analyzed using an approach analogous to a multivariate analysis of variance with unbalanced design, and weighted genetic distances are extracted from the results. The distance analysis indicates that patterns of genetic variation within this population reflect the geographical distribution of subdivisions, as well as subdivision size and movement among subdivisions. A parallel analysis of the Gainj and two other tribal groups from highland New Guinea, the Murapin Enga and the Simbai Valley Maring, suggests that the Gainj are both genetically divergent from neighboring populations and internally highly differentiated.     

Genetic affinities of AB0 and Rh blood groups among populations of Andhra Pradesh, India: 2. Tribes

Genetic affinities of 21 tribal populations of Andhra Pradesh are reported in terms of genetic distance analysis with regard to AB0 and Rh loci. These tribal populations show a high degree of differentiation in the distribution of AB0 blood groups. Some tribes exhibit the monomorphism for Rh (D) locus. The genetic distance analysis reveals that the 21 tribes included in this study are genetically distant from one another and the genetic clustering pattern correlates with linguistic/ethnic affiliation and geographical propinquity of these tribal populations to a certain extent. The possible reasons for different cluster formations are discussed.     

Genetic diversity and genome size variability in Linum austriacum (Lineaceae) populations

Genetic diversity and genome size variability were studied in 16 geographical populations of Linum austriacum (Lineaceae). Genetic diversity parameters were determined in each population based on ISSR molecular markers. AMOVA test, Gst value and Hickory test revealed significant molecular difference among the studied populations. Mantel test showed correlation between genetic distance and geographical distance in these populations. NJ tree and NeighborNet network grouped the studied plant specimens in 3 major clusters. STRUCTURE analysis identified 12 allelic combinations in agreement with K-Means clustering result. These analyses revealed the presence of genetic variability both among and within studied population. The plant specimens of these geographical populations also differed significantly in their genome size.     

缺齿蓑藓(Macromitrium gymnostomum)的形态和遗传变异及其地理因素分析

缺齿蓑藓(Macromitrium gymnostomum Sull.Lesq.)广布于我国东南部,形态变异较大,与近缘种关系模糊。为了正确鉴定缺齿蓑藓形态变异范围,以及形态、遗传和地理因素三者的关系,对缺齿蓑藓11个地理居群106个样本配子体的13个形态性状进行了测定。结果显示,根据形态数据可将106份样本聚类成8个形态组。用13对ISSR引物获得了150个位点,其中148个为多态位点,多态位点百分率为98.67%; Nei's基因多样性在居群内占62.22%,在居群间占37.78%;居群间基因流(Nm)为0.8235,遗传分化指数(Gst)为0.3778。11个地理居群的遗传距离在0.0873～0.2363之间,平均为0.1508。基于148个多态位点可将106份样本聚成8个遗传组。缺齿蓑藓的形态变异有一定的遗传背景(r=0.159,n=106,P 0.2),地理因素对形态(r=0.309,n=106,P 0.01)和遗传(r=0.251,n=106,P 0.01)分化产生了极显著影响。     

Genetic diversity and population structure in four Cirsium (Asteraceae) species

The present study considers genetic diversity of 38 populations in 4 Cirsium species of the genus Cirsium Mill. (Asteraceae), occurring in different ecological regions and tries to compare degree of genetic variability among the species with wide geographical distribution versus endemic C. pyramidale showing confined geographical distribution. The results showed that the endemic species has similar value of genetic diversity parameters as the species with wider distribution. We also studied the possible admixture nature of these populations and tried to understand the relation between genetic changes, geographical distribution and polyploidy level and chromosome pairing in these species. ISSR analysis showed population difference in allele composition and frequency. Clustering and PcoA ordination produced different groupings in each species, while STRUCTURE and reticulation analyses revealed high degree of genetic admixture and gene exchange among populations as well as allelic rearrangement. No significant correlation was observed between geographical distance and genetic distance of the populations and AMOVA test revealed no significant difference among populations in each species studied. However, high amount of within population variation occurred in all 4 species indicating their cross-pollination nature and high genetic admixture. The populations also varied in chiasma frequency and chromosome pairing as well as the occurrence of heterozygote translocations all creating more variability to be used by plants for local adaptation.     

Sets of complementary phenotypic relationships across five isolated populations: Traces of expression of different gene complexes?

The aim of this study is to search for certain repeating phenotypic patterns, i.e. sets of complementary relationships across five isolated populations, which may represent the traces of expression of different genes or gene complexes. The study was conducted among isolates of five island populations of eastern Adriatic, Croatia, and the data were collected between 1979 and 1990. Selected phenotypic characteristics included measures of biological distances (e.g. anthropometrical body and head distances, physiological, dermatoglyphic and radiogrammetric bone distances), while other examined traits included sociocultural (linguistic), bio-cultural (migrational kinship) and genetic distances. The sample consisted of 6,286 examinees from 43 villages of five isolate populations. Correlations between distance matrices based on examined traits were analyzed in each of five populations using Mantel's test of matrix correspondence, and factor analysis (rotated principal component) was then performed over obtained correlation matrices. The results showed that there were several consistent and significant correlations between some analyzed traits across all of the studied isolate populations, which might indicate their regulation by the shared gene complexes or genome regions. The analyses identified three main clusters of correlations in all five isolate populations: the first one containing anthropometric measures (body and head measures and physiological properties in both sexes), the second one containing geographic distance-related traits (migrational kinship, linguistic and genetic distances), and the third one containing dermatoglyphic properties and radiogrammetric bone measures in both sexes. The higher order varimax rotation over the matrix of factor correlations revealed that the primary source of variation within all five analyzed populations was not sex-related, but rather variable-specific.     

Insertion/deletion polymorphisms in tribal populations of southern India and their possible evolutionary implications

India has the unique distinction of having perhaps the largest diversities, both biological and cultural. The Nilgiri Hills of southern India, a home for several tribal pockets representing different genetic isolates, provides a genetic wealth to understand human evolution. We have analyzed eight widely distributed polymorphic insertion/deletion loci (AluAPO, AluACE, AluDI, AluPLAT, AluPV92, AluFXIIIB, CD4 del and mtNUC) in 250 unrelated individuals from five tribal populations (Badaga, Irula, Kota, Kurumba, and Toda). All loci were highly polymorphic except the CD4 del locus, at which the deletion allele was fixed in Kotas and Kurumbas. The levels of average heterozygosities were found to be high in all the populations. In most populations, they were also higher than those predicted by the island model of population structure. The gene diversity (GST = 8.3%) was found to be higher than that in populations of most global regions with the exception of Africa. It is clear from the present study that drift effects could have accentuated the process of genetic differentiation of the tribal populations. The possibility of an early demographic expansion of modern humans within south India also cannot be ruled out.     

Morphological and regional variations in body dimensions of the Gujjars of different localities in north-western India

Physical features and somatometric characters of the wide spread Gujjar population in North-Western India are fascinating. It is all the more interesting to study their morphological and regional variations in the body dimensions. In this paper, anthropometric characters of 200 adult subjects each belonging to Hindu Gujjars in the Ropar District of Punjab and Muslim Gujjars in the Chamba District of Himachal Pradesh in the North-Western part of India were compared. They differ significantly from each other for many physiognomic measurements, suggesting the biological diversity between the two population groups. Further, the comparison of anthropometric measurements between the different localities of the Gujjars showed morphological variations and regional diversity of the isolates in North-Western India. These findings may be attributed to the founder effect, genetic drift, and breeding and geographical isolation of the populations under study and not to secular trends. The findings have also been compared and discussed with the available results of other local populations in North-Western India.     

Microsatellite diversity reveals the interplay of language and geography in shaping genetic differentiation of diverse Proto-Australoid populations of west-central India

Microsatellite diversity was analyzed in four Proto-Australoid tribes, including Indo-European (Marathi)-speaking Katkari, Pawara, Mahadeo-Koli, and Dravidian (Gondi)-speaking groups of Maharashtra, west-central India, to understand their genetic structure and to identify the congruence between language and gene pool. Allele frequency data at 15 short tandem repeat (STR) loci in studied tribes was compared with data of 22 Indo-European- and Dravidian-speaking caste and tribal populations using heterozygosity, allele size variance, analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA), G(ST) estimate, PC plot, and Mantel correlation test. Our results demonstrate that "Gondi" tribes comprising the Madia-Gond, a hunter-gatherer population, and the agriculturist Dheria-Gond harbor lower diversity than "Marathi" tribal groups, which are culturally and genetically distinct. Katkari, a hunter-gatherer tribe, showed greater diversity and the presence of a large number of unique alleles, genetically distinct from all others except the Pawara, supporting their old cultural links. The agriculturist Pawara tribe represents a splinter subgroup of the Bhil tribe and has experienced gene flow. The Mahadeo-Koli, an agriculturally oriented tribe, displayed significant heterozygote deficiency, attributable to the practice of high endogamy. The Proto-Australoid tribal populations were genetically differentiated from castes of similar morphology, suggesting different evolutionary mechanisms operating upon the populations. The populations showed genetic and linguistic similarity, barring a few groups with varied migratory histories. The microsatellite variation clearly demonstrates the interplay of sociocultural factors including linguistic, geographical contiguity, and microevolutionary processes in shaping the genetic diversity of populations in contemporary India. This study supports the ethno-historical relationships of Indian populations.     

Genomic diversity and affinities in population groups of North West India: An analysis of Alu insertion and a single nucleotide polymorphism

The North West region of India is extremely important to understand the peopling of India, as it acted as a corridor to the foreign invaders from Eurasia and Central Asia. A series of these invasions along with multiple migrations led to intermixture of variable populations, strongly contributing to genetic variations. The present investigation was designed to explore the genetic diversities and affinities among the five major ethnic groups from North West India; Brahmin, Jat Sikh, Bania, Rajput and Gujjar. A total of 327 individuals of the abovementioned ethnic groups were analyzed for 4 Alu insertion marker loci (ACE, PV92, APO and D1) and a Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP) rs2234693 in the intronic region of the ESR1 gene. Statistical analysis was performed to interpret the genetic structure and diversity of the population groups. Genotypes for ACE, APO, ESR1 and PV92 loci were found to be in Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium in all the ethnic groups, while significant departures were observed at the D1 locus in every investigated population after Bonferroni's correction. The average heterozygosity for all the loci in these ethnic groups was fairly substantial ranging from 0.3927 ± 0.1877 to 0.4333 ± 0.1416. Inbreeding coefficient indicated an overall 10% decrease in heterozygosity in these North West Indian populations. The gene differentiation among the populations was observed to be of the order of 0.013. Genetic distance estimates revealed that Gujjars were close to Banias and Jat Sikhs were close to Rajputs. Overall the study favored the recent division of the populations of North West India into largely endogamous groups. It was observed that the populations of North West India represent a more or less homogenous genetic entity, owing to their common ancestral history as well as geographical proximity.     

Evaluation of Genetic Differentiation in Bos indicus Cattle Breeds from Marathwada Region of India Using Microsatellite Polymorphism

Elucidation of genetic variability and genetic relationship among breeds has direct relevance with the issues of sustainable use of domestic animal genetic resources. In the present study, genetic polymorphism was evaluated using 22 microsatellite loci in unrelated samples of Red Kandhari and Deoni cattle breeds inhabiting the same geographical area of Marathwada region in Maharashtra state (western India). This work was mainly aimed at assessing the current genetic diversity to understand whether the two zebu populations in question are genetically differentiated. A total of 164 alleles were detected with an average of 5.82 and 5.86 alleles per locus (MNA) in Red Kandhari and Deoni breeds, respectively. The estimated mean observed (Ho) and expected (He) heterozygosity were 0.47 and 0.64 in Red Kandhari vs. 0.57 and 0.69 in Deoni cattle, respectively, demonstrating considerable level of genetic variation in both the populations. Mean estimates of F statistics were: F (FIT) = 0.315±0.035, f(FIS) = 0.231±0.031, θ(FST) = 0.110±0.022, with both the breeds exhibiting significant deficit of heterozygotes (FIS = 0.179 in Deoni; 0.278 in Red Kandhari). The multilocus FST values implied that 11.0% of the total genetic variation corresponds to breed and were statistically greater than zero for the two populations, suggesting population division. The evaluation of exact test also indicated that allele frequencies across all the loci differed significantly (P < 0.001) between two zebu breeds, further supporting population differentiation. Different genetic distance measures showed considerable levels of distances between the two cattle breeds (0.318 = Nei's standard DS; 0.250 = Nei's DA; 0.416 = Cavalli-Sforza and Edwards's DC; 0.164 = Reynold's, and 2.64 = Delta mu square (dμ)2. Bayesian statistical approach to assign each individual to the population also supported considerable differentiation between the two cattle breeds, possibly reflecting the limited gene flow between the two Marthwada cattle populations. The existence of cohesive breeding structure of both the breeds was further substantiated by allele-sharing distance measures (DAS) among individual animals. The results of this study thus revealed that the two Bos indicus breeds sharing the common breeding tracts are genetically differentiated enough as separate breeds.     

企鹅珍珠贝不同地理群体遗传多样性的fAFLP 分析

为阐明企鹅珍珠贝(Pteria penguin)不同地理种群的遗传多样性机制, 采用荧光标记扩增片段长度多态性(fAFLP)技术分析了企鹅珍珠贝广西涠洲岛、广东流沙湾和海南黎安3 个不同地理群体的遗传多样性。选取7 对引物组合对90 个个体(每个群体30 个)进行fAFLP 扩增, 结果发现每个个体均能扩增出清晰的、可重复的扩增条带, 每对引物的扩增位点数在100—163 之间, 共得到895 个扩增位点, 多态位点数为865 个; 涠洲岛、流沙湾和黎安群体的多态位点比例分别为70.73%、63.13%、66.82%。Nei 遗传多样性指数为0.1634、0.1558、0.1783, Shannon 遗传多样性指数为0.2635、0.2474、0.2932。3 个群体间遗传相似度在0.9722—0.9824之间, 遗传距离在0.0177—0.0282 之间。根据遗传距离绘制UPGMA 聚类图, 但Mantel 检验结果显示企鹅珍珠贝三群体间的遗传距离与地理距离之间无显著相关。Shannon 遗传多样性指数和AMOVA 分析, 结果均显示企鹅珍珠贝的遗传变异主要来源于群体内个体间, 7.91%的遗传变异来自群体间, 92.09%的遗传变异来自群体内。分析群体的显性基因型频率分布和基因流Nm 发现3 个群体有基本相同的遗传结构, 有明显的基因交流。研究结果表明北海涠洲岛群体、湛江流沙湾群体和海南黎安群体的企鹅珍珠贝种质有较高的多态位点比例, 但未发生显著地理分化。这一结果为我国企鹅珍珠贝的良种选育以及种质资源保护措施的制定提供了参考依据。       

箭叶淫羊藿居群形态及遗传多样性比较研究

箭叶淫羊藿（Epimedium sagittatum）是淫羊藿属中分布最广、形态变异最大、分类学最难处理的一个物种,不同箭叶淫羊藿居群其形态、活性成分等差异较大,质量极其不稳定。本实验选择湖北罗田等12个不同的箭叶淫羊藿地理居群,在武汉植物园进行同园栽培,分析其主要形态数量性状及遗传多样性。结果发现箭叶淫羊藿不同居群在形态上表现出各自明显的差异。基于AFLP数据进行的遗传多样性分析显示,各居群聚类关系与地理分布密切相关,柳州居群（LZ）、西南居群（CL、HH、ZY）、华东华中居群（YT、WN、NF、HS、QZ、SG、LY、LT）依次分出。而形态分层聚类分析显示各居群形态变异复杂,只有部分与遗传多样性有一定的相关性。本研究结果对箭叶淫羊藿分类研究及资源筛选具有重要指导作用。