Objectives: MC1R polymorphisms have been reported to be under a selective constraint in populations inhabiting high UVR regions such as Africans; however, these patterns are not consistent. Here we analyze the MC1R gene in West Maharashtra, India to see if sequence diversity corresponds to their diverse pigmentary profiles and if MC1R is constrained in dark skinned tribal as compared to lighter skinned caste populations.
Methods: A 2648 bp region of this gene was sequenced in 102 individuals and the data was compared for π, ϴ diversity indices.