Hemoglobin variant found in Koreans, Chinese, and North American Indians: alpha-2 beta-2 22 Glu Ala.

Abstract

AbstractHemoglobin G Taegu, an electrophoretically slow hemoglobin variant found in four among 6700 apparently normal Korean subjects, has been shown to have a structural anomaly at position 22 of the beta‐chain where an alanyl residue occurs in place of the glutamyl group normally found at that position in Hemoglobin A.The same structural anomaly initially was established by other workers in slow hemoglobin variants occurring in North American Indians and more recently has been reported in a Northern Chinese subject. The identical hemoglobins in the three ethnic groups are Hemoglobins G Coushatta, found in several Alabama‐Coushatta Indians in Tex.; G Saskatoon, seen in a few descendants of Santee Indians currently living in Canada; G Hsin‐Chu, in a Chinese from the northern province of Liaoning and currently living in Taiwan; and G Taegu in Koreans.It is assumed that the Chinese and Korean subjects have the same hemoglobin variant because of gene flow. No similar assumption connecting these two groups with the North American Indian subjects is considered warranted with the presently limited available information.