Nonmetric cranial variation and biological distances between samples of six nontribal populations of India

Sixty-nine nonmetrical morphological variants of the cranium have been studied in six samples of non-tribal, state populations in India, and their incidence reported. Using C.A.B. Smith’s angular transformation of frequencies, the multivariate Thetasquare distances and their respective standard deviations have been presented. On the basis of nonmetrical cranial variation, it is clear that the samples from Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Bihar are closer to each other but distant from Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra. On the other hand, Karnataka and Maharashtra samples are quite close to each other and both, in turn, are comparatively closer to Madhya Pradesh than to Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Bihar. Madhya Pradesh sample emerges as the most divergent group among the six population samples studied. This, in general, is in conformity with the picture that emerges from various analysis of morphometric and other biological data on various populations of India.     

A pedigree with bilateral preaxial polydactyly from India

Preaxial polydactyly in 15 males and 5 females of 6 generations display a bilateral duplication of the big toe in a pedigree from Andhra Pradesh, India, with reduced penetrance and variable expressivity.     

ABO blood groups and ABH saliva secretion in Reddis and Kammas of Southern Andhra Pradesh

ABO blood groups and ABH saliva secretion were investigated in two caste populations, Reddis and Kammas of Southern Andhra Pradesh, and compared with the data of other populations. In ABO gene frequencies, the present series of Reddis and Kammas approach the values from other Andhra caste data. Moderate gene frequency of non-secretor gene in both Reddis and Kammas are noted.     

Finger dermatoglyphics of the Bagathas of Araku Valley (A.P.), India

Finger prints of the Bagathas, a dominant endogamous tribal population of Araku Valley in Andhra Pradesh (India) were analysed. They are distributed in Araku, Paderu and Chintapalli agency areas of Visakhapatnam district of A.P. Investigations on finger prints of 235 males and 235 females reveal that loops are higher in females (57.58%) than in males (49.19%). Sex differences in the distribution of the patterns are statistically significant (X² = 27.8277; d.f. = 2; 0.001 > P). The index of pattern intensity shows a higher value in males (14.17) than the females (12.84). It is evident from the mean ridge counts that there is a clear sexual dimorphism, males showing higher mean ridge counts than females. Bagathas show greater affinity with the Valmikis in the frequency distribution of pattern types and in the pattern intensity index. However, a more detailed dermatoglyphic study of all the tribes of Andhra Pradesh yields information of great value in disclosing the pattern distributions among these Dravidian or proto-Australoid tribal populations.     

Serum albumin variants from populations of Andhra Pradesh,S. India

Summary 1108 tribal and 1062 non-tribal individuals from three districts of Andhra Pradesh were examined, for serum albumin variants. A slow-moving variant, identical to Albumin Kashmir was found in a single Muslim individual. Another new slow-moving variant, faster than Albumin Kashmir found in a single individual of a Koya Dora tribe is designated as Albumin Koya Dora.     

Haptoglobin polymorphism among fourteen populations of India

Haptoglobin (HP) is a serum protein that has the capability of binding the extracorpuscular haemoglobin released during haemolysis. It plays an important role in protection of haemolytic disease by reducing the oxidative and peroxidative potential at free haemoglobin. The present study was aimed to determine the prevalence of HP polymorphism among different Indian populations, anthropologically belonging to diverse ethnicity. The polymorphism was screened among 642 unrelated individuals belonging to 14 population groups of India including both tribal and non-tribal caste groups from different geographical regions of India with distinct linguistic affiliations. An attempt is also made to understand the distribution of HP polymorphism among the studied populations. The result reveals the HP gene to be polymorphic in all the studied populations. Except the two tribal populations (Thotis of Andhra Pradesh and Patelias of Rajasthan) and one caste population (Rajput of Himachal Pradesh), all the studied populations are found to obey the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. The significance of the present study is elucidated with the prevalence of high mutant HP*2 allele frequency in India. Selection could be one of the most plausible explanations for this high HP frequency because of its uniformly high occurrence among all the studied populations.     

Blood pressure levels of Rellis (India) with special reference to variations with age

The paper presents a survey of arterial blood pressures measured in 193 adult males and females of Relli community, selected at random from Visakhapatnam City, Andhra Pradesh. Age shows more influence on the rise of systolic than diastolic blood pressure. Females show a higher rate of rise in both pressures with advancing age. The incidence of hypertension is also found to be higher in females than in males.     

Genetic studies on the Koya Dora and Konda Kammara tribes of Andhra Pradesh, India

A total of 209 persons belonging to the Koya Dora and Konda Kammara tribes in the East Godavari District of Andhra Pradesh, have been tested for electrophoretic variation in 9 red cell enzyme systems. The gene frequencies for the systems showing variation are, in general, within the range for other Andhra Pradesh tribal populations. There is 1 example of PHI 2-1 in the Konda Kammara, while 1 case each of PHI 3-1 and 2-1 are reported in the Koya Dora. In PGM1, there is one example of the 6-2 phenotype and one of 4-1 in the Koya Dora. The Koya Dora show a relatively lower frequency of the EsD2 allele compared to the Konda Kammara. The gene frequencies for the GLO system are reported here for the first time among Indian tribals and these are within the Indian range. LDH Calcutta 1 was not detected in either population.     

Genetic studies on the Kolams of Andhra Pradesh, India.

A total of 220 persons belonging to the Kolam tribe in the Adilabad District of northwest Andhra Pradesh have been tested for 18 red cell eyzyme systems and for haemoglobin. Generally, the gene frequencies for the systems which showed electrophoretic variation were within the range for Indian populations; the gene frequency for AK1 is high by Indian standards and Hb AS is present. LDH Calcutta 1 was not detected in this population and a single example of PHI 2-1 was observed.     

Microsatellite diversity in Andhra Pradesh, India: genetic stratification versus social stratification

DNA samples of 948 individuals belonging to 27 populations from southern Andhra Pradesh were analyzed for nine AmpFlSTR Profiler Plus loci. The nature and extent of genomic diversity within and between these populations have been examined with reference to socioeconomic and geographic affiliations. The results suggest that the average heterozygosity is uniformly high in these populations (> 0.80) and that the patterns of allele distributions are similar across the populations. The value of the coefficient of gene differentiation and the AMOVA and structure analysis results suggest that these populations are highly homogeneous. The neighbor-joining tree constructed using either D(A) or F(ST) distances suggests no intelligible pattern of population clusters based on ethnohistoric or geographic affiliations. All these observations suggest either a common recent origin of these populations or extensive gene flow across the populations that erased the original genetic differences. Given strict endogamy, the latter explanation can hold only if there has been unauthorized or unrecognized gene flow transecting the social boundaries. Nevertheless, the regression plot of average heterozygosity versus distance from the centroid (Rii), based on Harpending and Ward's (1982) model, and the genetic distances computed between different hierarchical groups within Andhra Pradesh tend to support this conjecture. Overall, the results suggest lack of a significant degree of genetic stratification that is consistent with social stratification in Andhra Pradesh. Furthermore, the neighbor-joining tree based on comparative data from other Indian and continental populations brings out a single and compact cluster of all the Andhra populations that is clearly separated from the rest.     

Gene differentiation at the ABO locus in twenty castes and twenty-two tribes of Andhra Pradesh, India

Using gene frequency data for the ABO locus so far available, gene differentiation and gene identity between 20 castes and 22 tribes of Andhra Pradesh were determined. The interpopulation gene diversity is 1.4 and 1.6% of total genic variation in castes and tribes, respectively. Difficulties in interpreting genetic diversity using just one genetic system is discussed.     

Cyclic Seasonal Variation of G-6-PD Deficiency in Newborn Infants from Sardinia

Glucose-6-Phosphate Dehydrogenase has been studied in 5267 consecutive newborn infants from Sardinian population during a four years period. The proportion of G-6-PD deficient female infants is much higher in those conceived in the winter-spring than among those conceived in summer-autumn, resulting in a lower sex ratio among G-6-PD deficient infants conceived in winter-spring as compared to G-6-PD deficient infants conceived in the summer-autumn. The overall frequency of the gene for G-6-PD deficiency is much lower in infants conceived in the summer period than in infants conceived in the other seasons. A greater reproductive efficiency of G-6-PD deficient males in the winter-spring season and/or some effect at post zygotic level favouring the survival of heterozygous G-6-PD deficient females conceived in the winter-spring period could contribute to the pattern described. Fresh vegetables containing oxidative substances are more abundant in the spring time. These substances may interact with seasonal reproductive cycles influencing reproduction efficiency of G-6-PD deficient males and/or the relative survival rate of heterozygous female embryos.     

Blood groups and ABH saliva secretion in Koya Dora and Konda Kammara tribes of Andhra Pradesh

The present paper reports the distribution of blood groups and ABH saliva secretion in two Andhra tribal populations: the Koya Dora and the Konda Kammara. 100 Koya Dora and nearly 110 Konda Kammara adults of both sexes were tested for A1A2BO, MN, Rh (CcDEe) blood groups and ABH saliva secretion. The gene frequencies for A1A2BO, MN and ABH and the gene as well as chromosome frequencies for Rh (CcDEe) systems were calculated. Koya Doras show a higher incidence of A gene than B gene, while the reverse trend is seen in Konda Kammaras. Both the tribes show a high M gene frequency. No Rh(D) negative individual was found in Koya Doras, while 4.59% of Konda Kammaras are Rh(D) negative. The chromosomes CDE, CdE, cDe, cdE, Cde and cde are absent in Koya Doras, while only the four chromosomes CDE, CdE, cDe and cdE are absent in Konda Kammaras. The chromosome CDe shows the highest frequency in both the tribes. The frequency of secretors is, as usual, higher than that of nonsecretors in both the tribes. The intergroup variation between the two tribes is not statistically significant for MN, Rh (CcDEe) and ABH systems, while the difference is significant for the A1A2BO blood groups. Suitable comparisons have also been made with all the other available data from Andhra Pradesh tribal populations with respect to different systems studied. Finally Fi estimates have been calculated after Harpending et al. (1973) and Workman et al. (1974) for Koya Doras and Konda Kammaras to assess their degree of endogamy, considering the codominant systems studied, which suggest that Koya Doras are relatively more isolated than Konda Kammaras.     

Book Review

To study the variability and to identify the species of Begomovirus associated with yellow mosaic disease of blackgram in Andhra Pradesh, India, infected blackgram samples were collected from six districts belonging to three regions of Andhra Pradesh. The total DNA was isolated by modified CTAB method and amplified with coat protein gene-specific primers (RHA-F and AC abut) resulting in 900?bp gene product. The PCR products were cloned, sequenced and deposited in GenBank. The sequence analysis of six clones showed that the size of amplified CP gene of YMV was 920?bp. Based on nucleotide sequence identity of six isolates representing three regions of Andhra Pradesh, the isolates from Rayalaseema and Telangana region are the same variant of YMV (>99.5% identity) and isolate from coastal Andhra is another variant of YMV (>95.4%) when compared with other region isolates. Comparison of CP gene sequence of YMV-TPT isolate with 27 other isolates in database revealed more than 93.2 and 86.2% identity with MYMIV isolates and less than 80 and 64% identity with MYMY isolates that originate from Indian sub-continent and South-East Asia at nucleotide and amino acid level, respectively. Phylogenetic tree based on CP gene sequences of six isolates with other isolates from GenBank formed unique cluster with MYMIV. Hence the YMV infecting blackgram in Andhra Pradesh is caused by MYMIV rather than MYMY as reported in Tamil Nadu which is adjoining state in southern India.     

Glyoxylase I phenotypes in some endogamous populations of Andhra Pradesh, India

The distribution of glyoxylase (GLO) I phenotypes in six endogamous subgroups of Brahmins and in the Mala and Madiga castes of Andhra Pradesh was investigated. The GLO I gene frequencies ranged from 0.2444 to 0.3575. The frequency of 0.3565 found in the Mala is the highest recorded on the Indian subcontinent.     

Acid phosphatase polymorphism in some endogamous populations of Andhra Pradesh

The distribution of acid phosphatase (ACP) phenotypes in six endogamous Brahmin sub-sects and in the Vysya, Mala and Madiga castes of Andhra Pradesh, India, were investigated. The ACP A gene frequency ranged from 0.167 to 0.254. The ACP C allele was observed in three Brahmin sub-sects.     

Red cell enzyme polymorphism in two populations of coastal Andhra Pradesh, South India

Four red cell enzyme polymorphisms: Esterase-D (ESD), Glyoxalase-I (GL01), Superoxide Dismutase (SOD) and Phosphoglucomutase (PGM1 and 2), have been studied in two endogamous populations (paidi and Valmiki) of North Coastal Andhra Pradesh, South India. Inter group comparison by chisquare analysis revealed no significant differences among them. An attempt was made to compare with those available for other populations from Andhra Pradesh.     

A genetic study of the Konda Kapu tribe of coastal Andhra Pradesh, South India

Phenotype and gene frequencies of two blood group and four red cell enzyme systems were examined in a Konda Kapu tribal sample of Coastal Andhra Pradesh, South India. The gene frequencies for these systems in Konda Kapus indicate the middle range values for Andhra Pradesh tribal populations, excepting the ADA and Rh(D) systems, where extreme range values are found. Further, gene flow is indicated between the Konda Kapus under study and Plain Kapus, a neighbouring caste population by calculation of Fi estimates.     

Modern and ancestral genotypes of Mycobacterium tuberculosis from Andhra Pradesh, India

Traditionally, the distribution of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis genotypes in India has been characterized by widespread prevalence of ancestral lineages (TbD1+ strains and variants) in the south and the modern forms (TbD1(-) CAS and variants) predominating in the north of India. The pattern was, however, not clearly known in the south-central region such as Hyderabad and the rest of the state of Andhra Pradesh where the prevalence of both tuberculosis (TB) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection is one of the highest in the country; this area has been the hotspot of TB vaccine trials. Spoligotyping of 101 clinical isolates obtained from Hyderabad and rural Andhra Pradesh confirmed the occurrence of major genogroups such as the ancestral (or the TbD1+ type or the East African Indian (EAI) type), the Central Asian (CAS) or Delhi type and the Beijing lineage in Andhra Pradesh. Sixty five different spoligotype patterns were observed for the isolates included in this study; these were further analyzed based on specific genetic signatures/mutations. It was found that the major genogroups, CAS and "ancestral," were almost equally prevalent in our collection but followed a north-south compartmentalization as was also reported previously. However, we observed a significant presence of MANU lineage in south Andhra Pradesh, which was earlier reported to be overwhelmingly present in Mumbai. This study portrays genotypic diversity of M. tuberculosis from the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh and provides a much needed snapshot of the strain diversity that will be helpful in devising effective TB control programs in this part of the world.     

Trends in consanguinity in South India

This study uses data from the 1992-93 National Family Health Survey to assess trends in consanguinity in the South Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. In Kerala, the frequency of consanguineous marriages is very low and one type of preferred marriage of the Dravidian marriage system uncle niece marriage--is conspicuously absent. In the other states of South India, consanguinity and the coefficient of inbreeding are high. While no change in consanguinity is observed during the past three to four decades in Karnataka, a definite decline is observed in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. Due to recent changes in the demographic and social situation in these states, this decline in consanguinity is likely to continue.