OCCURRENCE OF THE ERYTHROCYTE BAND-3 (AE1) GENE DELETION IN RELATION TO MALARIA ENDEMICITY IN PAPUA-NEW-GUINEA

South-east Asian ovalocytosis status was determined in 1629 individual s originating from 12 different geographical areas of Papua New Guinea , representing different ethnic groups and degrees of malaria endemici ty. This was achieved by using polymerase chain reaction amplification to demonstrate a 27 base pair deletion in the erythrocyte band 3 (AE1 ) gene. By using this method, the prevalence of erythrocyte band 3 gen e deletion was determined to range from zero in both the lowland inlan d area of Wosera, East Sepik Province and the highland region of Gorok a, Eastern Highlands Province to 35% on the north coast of Madang Prov ince. In general, the prevalence correlated well with altitude, being highest on the coast where malaria transmission is high, intermediate in the lowlands, and lowest in the non-malarious highlands. However, W osera, a lowland area in the Sepik River Plains, which is hyperendemic for malaria, was an exception in that no ovalocytosis was detected. T hese results largely confirm the prevalence rates that have been repor ted in the past using microscopy. In keeping with the autosomal domina nt mode of inheritance, the male:female ratio was 1.02 and no homozygo te was detected, indicating that homozygosity for the ovalocytosis ban d 3 gene deletion is lethal.