Hemoglobin C trait in Saskatchewan.

In the beta chain of normal adult hemoglobin, the amino acid residues in positions six and seven are glutamic acid. In hemoglobin C, lysine replaces the glutamic acid residue in position six. Two hemoglobin variants have been described in which lysine replaces the glutamic acid residue in position seven.During a search for abnormalities of hemoglobin synthesis detectable by conventional electrophoretic techniques, some 20,000 blood samples were screened from the population of Saskatchewan. Two specimens gave an electrophoretic pattern of hemoglobins A and C. The abnormal hemoglobin was purified and "finger printed" and found to be the same as classical hemoglobin C (i.e. alpha(2)beta(2) 6 glu --> lys). Both specimens had originated from healthy blood donors, one a Ghanaian student and the other a young white man of immigrant Irish-Scottish parents living near Saskatoon.