Fast hemoglobin variant in Minahassan people of Sulawesi, Chinese and Thais: alpha-2-beta-2 56 Gly-Asp

• Published in: American journal of physical anthropology 1970-01, Vol.32 (1), p.147-150
• Main Authors: Blackwell, R Q, Liu, C S, Lie-Injo, L E, Pribadi, W
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Asian Continental Ancestry Group; China; Hemoglobinopathies - genetics; Hemoglobins, Abnormal - analysis; Humans; Indonesia; Male; Methods; Thailand
• ISSN: 0002-9483; 1096-8644
• DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.1330320118

Hemoglobin J Manado was found in 1957 in the father and two children of a Minahassan family originating from Manado, Northern Sulawesi, Indonesia. Present studies demonstrate that the structural anomaly in J Manado is located in the βT5 section of the hemoglobin molecule; the glycyl group normally found at the β‐56 position, or the βD7 position of the D‐helix, is replaced by an aspartyl group. Previous work had established that the same structural change occurs in Hemoglobin J Meinung, seen in Chinese residents of Taiwan, as well as in Hemoglobin J Korat or J Bangkok found in Thai subjects. The origins and ethnic background of the Minahassan people are obscure; their relatively large stature, light complexion, and language serve to set them from all other groups in Indonesia as well as Southeast Asia. They have no apparent ethnic connection either with Chinese or Thais, however, because of the relative geographical proximities of the three groups it appears likely that the occurrence of the same hemoglobin variant within all three can be explained by gene flow rather than by separate mutations.