Showing papers by "Kailash C. Malhotra published in 1996"

Population structure and genetic differentiation among 16 tribal populations of central India.

Abstract: Genetic polymorphisms for six blood groups, three red cell enzymes, three serum proteins, and hemoglobin were examined in sixteen central Indian tribal populations. Nine of the tribes belonged to Orissa, five to Madhya Pradesh, and two to Maharashtra. Eleven tribes spoke the Dravidian language, three Indo-Ayran, and two the language of the Austro-Asiatic families. The population structure of these tribal populations was analyzed at the inter- and intrastate and linguistic levels, using data for 13 genetic systems (38 alleles or haplotypes). Nine of the 13 loci showed significant heterogeneity in the 16 tribes, and the pattern of heterogeneity was also discernible in the different states and in the Dravidian-speaking tribes. As expected, the extent of genetic differentiation or gene diversity was the highest so far reported from central India. The mean FIS and HS for each locus in the different state, linguistic, and total tribal groups were consistently higher than the FST and GST values, respectively, showing that the genetic structure of each tribe is highly influenced by inbreeding. In a genetic affinity analysis by genetic distance the Indo-Aryan and Austro-Asiatic language groups showed little affinity with each other, although there was some tendency toward geographic affinity. The present analysis indicates that, in addition to genetic drift, gene flow, and selection, the genetic structure of the populations of central India is also highly influenced by sociocultural adaptation and inbreeding.

Variation in palmar interdigital ridge-counts among the 20 Dhangar castes of Maharashtra, India.

Abstract: Bilateral palmar prints of 2927 males of 20 endogamous Dhangar castes of Maharashtra, India, were studied for the distributions of a-b, b-c and c-d interdigital ridge-counts. The ridge-counts have been utilized for examining the inter-population affinities among the Dhangar castes. The distribution of a-b ridge-counts is symmetrical and normal in Dhangar castes. The distributions of b-c and c-d ridge-counts on both palms also show (nearly) normal distribution, but with a tendency of negative skewness and platykurtosis in c-d ridge-count. Equality of means and standard deviations depict significant heterogeneity. The decreasing order of magnitude of means of interdigital ridge-counts is a-b > c-d > b-c among all the Dhangar castes. Intercaste comparisons reveal a great deal of variations in all ridge-counts. The pattern of relationship between the Dhangar castes based on the three ridge-counts is in agreement with the expected patterns of affinities based on the known ethno-historical evidence. The significant finding of the study is that the palmar interdigital ridge-counts follow normal distribution and that they are useful in studying inter-population affinities.