Molecular polymorphism of ABO blood group gene in Austronesian and non-Austronesian populations in Oceania

A number of archeological, linguistic, and genetic studies have been carried out on the peopling of the Pacific, while the origin of Polynesians or the Lapita people is still open to debate. The Lapita people are believed to have populated the Bismarck Archipelago more than 3600 years ago. However, their Melanesian descendants still living in the Bismarck Archipelago have not been genetically clarified yet. To address this question, polymorphism of the ABO blood group gene was investigated in the following three populations who are considered to be almost free from recent admixtures: (i) Balopa islanders as Austronesian (AN)-speaking Melanesians living in the northwestern end of the Bismarck Archipelago; (ii) Gidra as non-Austronesian (NAN)-speaking Melanesians in southwestern lowlands of Papua New Guinea; and (iii) Tongan living in Ha'apai island as AN-speaking Polynesians. Interestingly, there were marked differences in allele frequencies of ABO*A101 and ABO*A102 among the three populations. The allele frequencies of ABO*A101 and ABO*A102 were 7.9 and 19.3% in Balopa, 23.2 and 0.0% in Gidra, and 2.9 and 25.0% in Tongan. Both phylogenetic and correspondence analyses suggested that Balopa was more close to Tongan than to Gidra and that Balopa was genetically placed between Tongan and Asian populations. Our results imply that Balopa may be Melanesian descendants of the Lapita people who populated the Bismarck Archipelago.