Deletion in erythrocyte band 3 gene in malaria-resistant Southeast Asian ovalocytosis.

Southeast Asian ovalocytosis (SAO) is a hereditary condition that is widespread in parts of Southeast Asia. The ovalocytic erythrocytes are rigid and resistant to invasion by various malarial parasites. We have previously found that the underlying defect in SAO involves band 3 protein, the major transmembrane protein, which has abnormal structure and function.

Geographical distribution of subjects seropositive for human T-cell leukemia virus type 1 in Papua New Guinea.

Of 1471 sera collected from 1986 to 1989 in Papua New Guinea (PNG), 2.2% were found to be positive for anti-HTLV-1 antibody by successive particle agglutination and immunofluorescence tests. The seropositive rate varied in different provinces and was higher in the coastal areas of the main island and in neighboring small islands than in the highlands of PNG.

Molecular defect of the band 3 protein in southeast Asian ovalocytosis.

Background: Southeast Asian ovalocytosis is a form of hereditary elliptocytosis in which the red cells are rigid and resistant to malaria invasion. The underlying molecular defect is unknown.

Methods And Results: We studied the red cells of 54 patients with ovalocytosis and 122 normal controls.

Province of origin of hepatitis B surface antigen carriers among blood donors in Port Moresby.

A paper published in the Medical Journal of Australia in 1972 gave a breakdown of Port Moresby blood donors by HBS Ag carrier status and area of origin. It has lately become possible to test whether such geographical subsamples provide reliable evidence of the carrier status in the home areas, and it appears that, except for the Islands provinces, they do not. Traditional lifestyles conduce to the maintenance and spread of the virus, which is much more prevalent in the provinces than in the capital.

Sero-genetic studies on the Ambo of Namibia.

The Ambo are the largest population group of Namibia/South West Africa and consist of seven geographical and sociopolitical entities speaking different dialects of a common language. Nearly 600 individuals representing all the dialect groups were tested for 23 sero-genetic systems: the results reveal no evidence of significant San admixture and unusual alleles suggest an affinity with the Herero which confirms oral traditions of a common origin. Genetic distance measurements indicate that the Dama may also have a connection with these peoples and it is probable that most of the Bantu-speaking Negroes of Namibia/South West Africa come from the same stock.

Structural relationships between human erythrocyte sialoglycoproteins beta and gamma and abnormal sialoglycoproteins found in certain rare human erythrocyte variants lacking the Gerbich blood-group antigen(s).

The human erythrocyte membrane sialoglycoproteins beta and gamma are important for the maintenance of the discoid shape of the normal erythrocyte. In this paper we show that the human erythrocyte sialoglycoproteins beta and gamma (hereafter called beta and gamma) are structurally related. Rabbit antisera produced against purified beta and beta 1 and rendered specific to the cytoplasmic portion of these proteins also react with the cytoplasmic portion of gamma.

Serogenetic and haematological studies on the Kgalagadi of Botswana.

A sample of Kgalagadi, Negro speakers of a Sotho/Tswana Bantu language, inhabitants of Botswana, have been investigated for variation in 27 gene-marker systems and for haematological status and the presence of intestinal parasites. They have been found to show indications of genetic affinity both to the other Sotho/Tswana and to the Mbanderu divisions of the Herero, a Bantu-speaking Negro people of Namibia. The latter affinity appears the closer.

Alpha-thalassemia in Papua New Guinea.

A study of the distribution of alpha-thalassemia in Papua New Guinea (PNG) was carried out by DNA analysis. A total of 664 DNA samples were screened for alpha-thalassemia 2 and alpha-thalassemia 1 caused respectively by either deletion of one or both of the duplicated alpha-globin genes. alpha-Thalassemia 2 was detected in high frequencies in coastal and lowland regions where malaria has been holo- to hyperendemic but in low frequencies in non-malarious highland regions.

Homozygosity for the delta-chain variant haemoglobin A2' (HbB2) (delta 16 Gly----Arg).

A healthy 20-year-old woman, belonging to the Kgalagadi tribe of Botswana, has been found to possess a variant Haemoglobin A2 as her only minor haemoglobin component. Fingerprinting and amino-acid analysis have shown that it is Haemoglobin A2' (delta 16 Gly----Arg). The one parent available for study is heterozygous for the Hb delta A2' allele and the variant haemoglobin accounts for 3% of the total haemoglobin in the proband.

Serogenetic studies on the Daga of the interior of the mainland of Milne Bay Province, Papua New Guinea.

The Daga people of Milne Bay, the easternmost Province of Papua New Guinea, occupy an upland area but do extend to the coast. Linguistically they are Papuan and, unlike their Austronesian-speaking neighbours, they appear originally to have been an exclusively inland people. They have been in contact with missionaries and miners since the turn of the century, and genetic evidence of Caucasoid gene flow may be present in the finding of several lactose absorbers (reported elsewhere).

Acetylator phenotypes in Papua New Guinea.

Acetylator phenotypes have been determined in 139 unrelated subjects from the hitherto untested populations of Papua New Guinea, and their relevance to current antituberculous isoniazid chemotherapy is discussed.

Sero-genetic studies on the Caucasoids of South West Africa/Namibia.

Gene marker studies on the Afrikaans and German populations of South West Africa/Namibia reveal that both very closely resemble their parent European stocks but that the Germans show appreciable evidence of having received a genetic contribution from non-Caucasoid, probably Khoi or Negro, sources.

Sero-genetic studies on the Basters of Rehoboth, South West Africa/Namibia.

The Basters of Rehoboth in South West Africa/Namibia arose by hybridization between Caucasoids and Khoi ('Hottentots') in the northern Cape Province of South Africa during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, followed by migration of a single well-defined party to Rehoboth and the consolidation of an ethnocentric nation there. Although there has been some gene flow into the population during the twentieth century, the present sero-genetic study contributes further evidence for the hypothesis of Fisher (1913) that each ancestral strain had furnished an equal contribution to the population.