Sickle cell gene in Central India: Kinship and geography

A wide range of variation (0.00–0.14) in the frequencies of the HbS allele has been observed among 16 tribes of Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, and Maharashtra. A significant excess of SS individuals over that expected under Hardy‐Weinberg equilibrium was observed among 6 of 16 populations. These populations belong to three linguistic groups and have history of heterogeneous origins. A geographical cline of increase in HbS allele frequency from east to west is apparent. This pattern can largely be explained by differential migration. The kinship coefficient (r ij ) and paired F ST do not show any significant correleation up to 250 km of geographical distance but beyond this distance they show an inverse releationship with increasing geographic distance. Hemoglobin levels between individuals with β S allele and with normal HbA individuals do not differ in these. © 1995 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.