Population genetics of phosphoglycolate phosphatase

Abstract

A total of more than 3700 individuals from 31 different populations throughout the world have been phenotyped for the red cell enzyme phosphoglycolatc phosphatase using the technique of starch gel electrophoresis and the frequencies for variant alleles have been determined. The Australian Aboriginal and Papua New Guinean populations tested were invariant as were most populations from southeast Asia and a number of Pacific Islands. White Australian, Indian, Lebanese, Iranian and Armenian groups were all polymorphic for PGP2 and some also for PGP3. The most notable finding was in the Amerindian populations where the frequency of PGP2 was more than 30% for some groups. A total of more than 3700 individuals from 31 different populations throughout the world have been phenotyped for the red cell enzyme phosphoglycolatc phosphatase using the technique of starch gel electrophoresis and the frequencies for variant alleles have been determined. The Australian Aboriginal and Papua New Guinean populations tested were invariant as were most populations from southeast Asia and a number of Pacific Islands. White Australian, Indian, Lebanese, Iranian and Armenian groups were all polymorphic for PGP2 and some also for PGP3. The most notable finding was in the Amerindian populations where the frequency of PGP2 was more than 30% for some groups.