ASSOCIATION BETWEEN OVINE PROTEIN POLYMORPHISMS AND GEOGRAPHICAL VARIABLES IN EUROPE AND SOUTH-WEST ASIA

The spatial distribution of six blood-protein-polymorphisms in Europea n and south-west Asian ovine breeds was analysed. Latitudinal dines we re found for haemoglobin and transferrin loci. The respective F-ST val ues are hot significantly greater than those for protein-X, esterase, carbonic anhydrase, and albumin, where gene frequencies are not associ ated with latitude. The results suggest that historical processes of g ene flow, rather than adaptation to different environments, have playe d a major role in determining the observed lives of gene frequencies.