DISTRIBUTION OF HLA AND HAPLOTYPES OF COLOMBIAN AND JAMAICAN BLACK POPULATIONS

To investigate the genetic background of the black populations of Colo mbia and Jamaica, we determined HLA types of 78 Colombian and 98 Jamai can blacks from 2 different socioeconomic groups (Jamaican #1 and Jama ican #2) and estimated the frequencies of HLA genes and haplotypes. A phylogenetic tree based on the HLA gene frequencies revealed that Jama ican #1 and Jamaican #2 were distinct from each other, Jamaican #1 bei ng closely related to the Colombian blacks and the Jamaican #2 being c losely related to Senegalese and Zairean populations. Three-locus HLA haplotypes of Colombian and Jamaican #1 blacks were an admixture betwe en Africans and Caucasians or South American Indians, while Jamaican # 2 blacks were relatively homogeneous and appeared to conserve African lineages. The major five-locus HLA haplotypes were not shared among Co lombian, Jamaican #1 and Jamaican #2 blacks. These results indicated t hat the black populations of Colombia and Jamaica were originated from African blacks and admired variably with Caucasians and South America n Indians to make genetic subpopulations in Colombia and Jamaica.