GENETIC AFFINITIES BETWEEN THE MIGRANT AND PARENTAL POPULATIONS OF FISHERMEN, EAST-COAST, INDIA

Genetic affinities between the migrant groups of fishermen from Purl a nd their parental counterparts in the Southern areas were examined usi ng 11 genetic loci: four blood groups, five red cell enzymes, and two serum proteins. The samples for the parental populations (about 430 su bjects) were drawn from 34 villages spread along the 400 km coast in G anjam district of Orissa and the contiguous Srikakulam, Vishakhapatnam , and East Godavari districts of Andhra Pradesh. Significant departure s between the migrant groups and their parental counterparts were obse rved at some loci, although the configuration of interpopulation dista nces among the migrants mimicked that of the parental populations. Whi le the observed differences may be due to a founder effect and subsequ ent random genetic drift in at least two of the three small population s, given high child mortality and the systematic nature of differences observed, the role of selection cannot be totally ruled out. (C) 1995 Wiley-Liss, Inc.