Gene Frequencies and Admixture Estimates in Four Mexican Urban Centers

• Published in: Human biology 1990-12, Vol.62 (6), p.791-801
• Main Authors: LISKER, RUBEN, RAMIREZ, EVA, BRICEÑO, ROCIO PEREZ, GRANADOS, JULIO, BABINSKY, VICTORIA
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Admixtures; Ancestry; Anthropology; Anthropology. Demography; Biological and medical sciences; Blood; Blood Group Antigens - genetics; Case studies; Cities; Continental Population Groups - genetics; Female; Forensic genetics; Gene Frequency; Genetic polymorphisms; Genetics, Population; Glucosephosphate Dehydrogenase - genetics; Haptoglobins - genetics; Hemoglobins - genetics; Human genetics; Human physiology applied to population studies and life conditions. Human ecophysiology; Human population genetics; Humans; Male; Medical sciences; Medical students; Mexicans; Mexico; Minority & ethnic groups; Phenotype; Phenotypes; Physiological aspects; Population genetics; Urban populations; White people
• ISSN: 0018-7143; 1534-6617

We studied 202 individuals from the city of Leon in Guanajuato state, 228 from Merida, Yucatan, 220 from Oaxaca, Oaxaca, and 257 from Saltillo, Coahuila, to learn the distribution of the ABO, MN, Rh, and Duffy blood groups, serum haptoglobin, albumin, and factor Bf types, and red cell hemoglobin and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase types. With the gene frequencies obtained, we performed admixture measurements with a maximum likelihood method, obtaining a trihybrid model for black, Indian, and white ancestry with the following proportions: 0.084, 0.513, and 0.403 in Leon; 0.059, 0.512, and 0.429 in Merida; 0.018, 0.676, and 0.306 in Oaxaca; and 0.073, 0.547, and 0.380 in Saltillo. The general pattern has high Indian ancestry followed by white and black ancestry. This pattern is congruent with most other studies performed in Mexico, including the east coast, where Indian ancestry predominates despite a clear increase in the black contribution.