Inbreeding effects on average heterozygosity in the Sudan

Abstract

In the first series, the average heterozygosity based on ten polymorphic loci (Rhesus, MN, P, and Kell blood groups; haemoglobin; serum haptoglobin; transferrin; red cell acid phosphatase, phosphoglucomutase-1 and glyoxalase-1) was determined among the offspring of unrelated (n = 328) and related (first-cousin) matings (n = 466) in the Sudan. The estimated average heterozygosity was found to be the same in the offspring of the first-cousin and unrelated parents (0.3628 +/- 0.0584 and 0.3697 +/- 0.0581, respectively). In the second series, the average heterozygosity at five polymorphic loci (Rhesus blood group, haemoglobin, serum haptoglobin and transferrin and red cell acid phosphatase) was estimated in several tribes with variable levels of inbreeding coefficients. The estimated average heterozygosity varied from 0.14 +/- 0.09 to 0.37 +/- 0.08 in different tribes with varying degrees of inbreeding coefficients (alpha x 10(5) of 967-3,904). However there was no significant correlation between the level of parental inbreeding with either average heterozygosity or deviation from the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium in the offspring.