[Transferrin subtypes in 11 south China minority populations]

Transferrin subtypes were determined by isoelectric focusing (IEF) and a special treatment of sera with Rivanol- ferrous ammonium sulfate (FAS) in a total of 2121 individuals from 11 southern minority populations in China, including Hani minority (217), Buyi minority (209), Tujia minority (168), Miao minority (197), Zhuang minority (171), Yao minority (210), Bai minority (178), Dong minority (157), Yi minority (206), Qiang minority (219) and Li minority (189). TfC1, TfC2 and TfDChi were present in all the populations, whereas TfB was totally lacking. TfC4 was found in only 3 populations and TfC3 in 6; both were present at frequencies of less than 0.01 in all the populations. We found rare phenotypes TfC4-2, TfC4-4, TfC4-1, TfC3-2 and TfD Ching in these populations. The distributions of TfC2 and TfC4 frequency were notable. In these minority groups, the frequencies of the C2 gene were higher (0.25-0.38) than those of the majority Chinese Han nationality (0.18-0.25). In the Bai minority, the TfC2 gene frequency was as high as 0.38, the highest value found in the world to date. Besides being found in US and South American, the TfC2 allele is also present in both Han and minority nationalities in China, although at a frequency less than 0.01, suggesting that the C4 allele probably to ancestral already existed in the ancestral Mongoloid population at a low frequency prior trial separation and increased in frequency in Amerindians due to genetic drift or selection.