Genetic studies in four populations of the northern Aegean Sea, Greece

A total of 945 non-related individuals from four isolated population groups from the Northern Aegean Sea (Greece)--Alonissos, Oxilithos, Skopelos, and Glossa, has been typed for 16 polymorphic systems of the blood, namely A1A2B0, MNS., Rhesus (C, c, Cw, D, E, e), Kell, Duffy (a,b), Kidd (a); Hp, Tf subtypes, Gc, Gm (1, 2, 3, 5, 13), Km (1); aP, AK, PGM1, EsD, and 6-PGD. The distribution of phenotype and gene/haplotype frequencies shows a considerable interpopulational variability, which is discussed considering the history of these populations as well as the impact of locally acting microevolutionary factors such as drift and founder effects. The average coefficient of gene diversity GST comes to 0.0147, whereas Wahlund's variance is on average 0.0154, and Wright's Fst = 0.0147. Genetic distance analysis reveals a pattern of similarities, which is in conformity with the history of the populations under study.