Gene frequency and haplotype distribution of hemoglobin E among seven minority groups of Yunnan, China.

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study was to determine the distribution and origin of hemoglobin E (HbE) in seven minority groups from various geographical regions of the malaria-endemic Yunnan province, southwestern China, which have similar ethnic origins and geographic relationships with HbE-prevalent populations of Southeast Asian countries.

METHODS

By using Polymerase Chain Reaction-Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) methods, the prevalence of HbE was examined in 1488 individuals from seven native minority groups of Yunnan, and β-globin gene cluster haplotypes were determined on 1420 chromosomes.

RESULTS

The prevalence of HbE in the study populations ranged from 1.5 to 39.1%. Higher HbE prevalence was correlated with the minority groups of Tibeto-Burman origin and groups from the Dehong district. The β -globin genes in Yunnan were mostly associated with three haplotypes [-+++++-], [+----+-], and [-+-+++-] on chromosomes with gene framework 2. Interestingly, the predominant β associated haplotype in Yunnan minorities was remarkably different from that in other previously reported populations. This study, for the first time, reports population-based data on the heterogeneity of HbE gene frequencies and haplotype distribution in native minorities from southwestern China.

CONCLUSIONS

Natural selection based on the presence of malaria, ethnic origin, and epistatic interactions may be factors of varying importance for the remarkable variation in HbE frequency among these minority groups. In addition, there appears to be a common origin of the β -globin gene in populations from Yunnan and Southeast Asia. Am. J. Hum. Biol. 28:927-931, 2016. © 2016Wiley Periodicals, Inc.