RESUMEN
The South Asian populations have a mosaic of ancestries likely due to the interactions of long-term populations of the landmassand those of East and West Eurasia. Apart from prehistoric dispersals, there are some known population movements to India. Inthis study, we focussed on the migration of Jewish and Parsi populations on temporal and spatial scales. The existence of Jewishand Parsi communities in India are recorded since ancient times. However, due to the lack of high-resolution genetic data, theirorigin and affiliation with other Indian and non-Indian populations remains shrouded in legends. Earlier genetic studies onpopulations of Indian Jews have found evidence for a minor shared ancestry of Indian Jews with Middle Eastern (Jews)populations, whereas for Parsis, the Iranian link was proposed. Recently, in our high-resolution study, we were able to quantifythe admixture dynamics of these groups, which has suggested a male-biased admixture. Here, we added the newly availableancient samples and revisited the interplay of genes and cultures. Thus, in this study we reconstructed a broad genetic profile ofIndian Jews and Parsis to paint a fine-grained picture of these ethnic groups.
RESUMEN
Background & objectives: Indian population is characterized by the presence of various castes and tribal groups. Various genetic polymorphisms have been used to differentiate among these groups. Amongst these, the ABO blood group system has been extensively studied. There is no information on molecular genotyping of ABO blood groups from India. Therefore, the main objective of this study was to characterize the common A, B and O alleles by molecular analysis in some Indian population groups. Methods: One hundred samples from the mixed population from Mumbai, 101 samples from the Dhodia tribe and 100 samples from the Parsi community were included in this study. Initially, the samples were phenotyped by standard serologic techniques. PCR followed by single strand conformational polymorphsim (SSCP) was used for molecular ABO genotyping. Samples showing atypical SSCP patterns were further analysed by DNA sequencing to characterize rare alleles. Results: Seven common ABO alleles with 19 different genotypes were found in the mixed population. The Dhodias showed 12 different ABO genotypes and the Parsis revealed 15 different ABO genotypes with six common ABO alleles identified in each of them. Two rare alleles were also identified. Interpretation & conclusions: This study reports the distribution of molecular genotypes of ABO alleles among some population groups from India. Considering the extremely heterogeneous nature of the Indian population, in terms of various genotype markers like blood groups, red cell enzymes, etc., many more ABO alleles are likely to be encountered.