SURVEY OF 7 PLASMA-PROTEIN POLYMORPHISMS IN THE AMHARA AND OROMO POPULATIONS OF ETHIOPIA

The Ethiopian population is very difficult to specify due to a very hi gh degree of intermixing among different peoples. The two groups of th e present study, the Amhara and Oromo, constitute 38% and 35% of the p opulation, respectively. In order to investigate the genetic compositi on of the Amhara and Oromo, genetic polymorphisms of seven plasma prot eins (F13A, F13B, ORM1, AHSG, C6, C7, and APOC2), already identified a s useful anthropological markers, were studied. No statistically relev ant differences were found between the two groups for all of the syste ms examined. ORM1 and F13A showed frequencies in the range observed in other populations of Caucasoid and Negroid origin. F13B, AHSG, and C6 displayed gene frequencies and a number of variant alleles that seem particular to these two groups. No variation was observed for C7 and A POC2. Correspondence and distance analyses were used to interpret and compare the gene frequencies of the Amhara and Oromo with those of oth er related populations. These methods locate Ethiopians in an intermed iate position between African Blacks and a group of Caucasoid populati ons, confirming cultural and historical data. (C) 1994 Wiley-Liss, Inc .