Comparison of restriction fragment length polymorphisms of proto-oncogenes in native Hawaiians and other ethnic groups in Hawaii.

The relative genetic diversity of selected proto-oncogenes in the native Hawaiian gene pool was examined by comparing the restriction fragment length polymorphisms of these genes in a group of 23 individuals with at least part Hawaiian ancestry, and in 20 individuals from other ethnic groups. Twenty-one combinations of the proto-oncogenes, c-fms, c-myc, L-myc, c-Ha-ras, and c-Ki-ras, tested with 1 or more of the restriction enzymes Bam HI, Eco RI, Hind III, Pst I, Pvu I and Kpn I were examined. Sixteen of these did not exhibit RFLPs in Hawaiians or in other ethnic groups. Four of the combinations exhibiting RFLPs in native Hawaiians exhibited similar-sized restriction fragments in the other ethnic groups. Only in the case of c-myc digested with Pst I were 5 individuals of Hawaiian ancestry found to have an RFLP which has not been detected in other ethnic groups. These 5 cases exhibited a 13-kb c-myc fragment in addition to the 5.5-kb fragment found in most Hawaiians and always present in other ethnic groups. The presence in Hawaiians of most RFLPs found in other ethnic groups indicates that the genetic diversity of proto-oncogenes in the gene pool of native Hawaiians is not substantially less than that of other ethnic groups.