Indian Journal of Human Genetics, Vol. 8, No. 1, Jan-Jun, 2002 pp. 29-31

Short Communication

Blood Group and Serum Protein Polymorphisms in Turpu Kapu Population of Vizianagaram District, Andhra Pradesh


Komal Madhavi V1,2, Ramesh M2, RaoTV2, Veerraju P2

1Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Uppal Road, Hyderabad-500 007 and 2Department of Human Genetics, Andhra University, Visakhapatnam-530 003.
Address for correspondence: Dr. Komal Madhavi V, W 410, (West Wing 3rd Floor), Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Uppal Road, Hyderabad - 500 007, INDIA, FAX: 040-7160591, E-mail: komalmadhavi@yahoo.com

Code Number: hg02007



Data on two blood group and three serum protein polymorphisms of the Turpu Kapu, an endogamous population of Vizianagaram District, Andhra Pradesh (AP) is presented. The gene frequencies for the blood group systems ABO and Rh are within the ranges of distribution reported earlier among the caste populations of Andhra Pradesh. The study population shows highest frequency of Hp1 allele and the lowest frequency of Hp2 allele compared to the other populations of AP. The Cp system is monomorphic, all individuals being the BB type. The GC system exhibits polymorphism with the gene frequencies of GC1 and GC2 alleles showing the highest and lowest frequencies, respectively, as compared to the caste populations reported earlier. The c2 test suggest that this population is in Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium.

Key words: Polymorphism, blood groups, serum proteins, Turpu Kapu

The division of its population into strictly defined endogamous and hierarchical castes and tribes characterizes Indian population structure. This is true for each of the linguistic regions of the country as languages form barriers of gene flow between such regions, even within apparently same castes like, for example, Brahmins. The Kapu population is one of the major castes of Andhra Pradesh (AP) and is distributed all over the state and form number of endogamous sub-castes. The Kapu inhabiting the north coastal districts of Visakhapatnam, Vizianagaram and Srikakulam are subjected to segregation by the Kapu of the other areas of Andhra Pradesh and are referred as Turpu Kapu i.e. the Kapu living in the eastern region (Turpu = Eastern). They maintain endogamy among them forming a breeding unit. It is estimated that there are about 40, 000 such units within India and although number of populations have been genetically explored a very many still remains to be studied. The population of the present study is one of the important populations that remains thus far genetically unexplored. This has prompted us to take up this study and report distribution of the polymorphic systems such as blood groups (ABO and Rh) and serum proteins (Haptoglobin, Ceruloplasmin and Group-specific Component) in comparison to other caste populations in AP so far studied.


Materials and Methods


A total of 130 blood samples (about 1ml in quantity) were collected by finger prick method from healthy and unrelated males (72) and females (58) belonging to the Turpu Kapu caste inhabiting Chinnabantupalli village, Vizianagaram District, Andhra Pradesh. The informed consent was obtained. ABO and Rh blood groups were typed according to the standard methods. The serum extracted from the 1ml blood was enough to type Hp, Cp and GC using Disc gel electrophoresis (Clark 1964). The laboratory work was carried out at the Department of Human Genetics, Andhra University, Visakhapatnam.


Results and Discussion


The phenotype and gene frequencies of the 5 polymorphic loci studied are presented in Table 1. The results of x 2 test for homogeneity of the phenotype frequencies of Turpu Kapu with other AP castes is given in Table 2.


Blood group systems

In the Turpu Kapu, the ABO phenotypes and the gene frequencies are in the decreasing order of predominance, O> B>A>AB and r>q>p, respectively, and they are within the ranges of frequency reported earlier for populations of AP. This population is found to be in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (c 2 = 0.01, d.f. 1) for ABO blood groups. The c 2 test suggests significant heterogeneity in ABO frequency of the Turpu Kapu with the Kalinga (Rajeswari, 1992), Padmanayaka Velama (Kumar, 2000), Rajaka (Parvatheesam, 1995) and Devanga (Naidu et al, 1990) castes of AP.

In case of Rh (D), this population shows 99.17% of Rh + and 0.83% Rh phenotypes. The Rh (D) gene frequency (90.95%) is very similar to that in Padmasali (91.97%, Devi and Veerraju, 1990). The c 2 analysis revealed significant heterogeneity (Table 2) of Rh (D) frequency of the Turpu Kapu with Rajaka (Parvatheesam, 1995), Brahmin and Kamma (Naidu et al, 1990) and Padmanayaka Velama (Kumar, 2000).


Serum proteins

At the Haptoglobin locus, the study population exhibited the predominance of Hp 2-2 among the three phenotypes, although this population is found to be in HW equilibrium (Table 1). When compared to other caste populations of Andhra Pradesh, the 2-1 phenotype is highest in frequency (48.22%) and the 2-2 phenotype the lowest (50%). Consequently, this population exhibits the highest frequency of Hp1 allele and the lowest of Hp2 allele among the populations of AP. The c2 test showed significant heterogeneity with Brahmin and Kamma (Naidu et al, 1985a), Kapu (Rao and Ramaswamy, 1974), Vysya (Gopalam and Rao, 1981) and Viswabrahmin (Rao, 1996)

The Ceruloplasmin locus did not show any variant and all the individuals were of the BB phenotype. It may be noted that all the Andhra caste populations reported so far are monomorphic for this system.

The Group-Specific Component (GC) 1-1 type is the most frequent phenotype in the study population. The population is found to be in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. The population exhibited the highest frequency of GC1 and the lowest frequency of the GC2 allele among the caste populations of AP so far screened but the c 2 test does not suggest significant heterogeneity at this system.

In summary, despite the modest sample size, this report may help filling the lacuna in the genetic map of Indian populations at least with reference to the five genetic markers studied in the hitherto unexplored population.

Acknowledgement


I take this opportunity to thank my friends, Naidu and Gayathri for their help and support throughout this study.


References:

Devi KS and Veerraju P (1990). A note on ABO and Rh blood groups and Red-Green colour blindness among Padmasalis of Andhra Pradesh. J.Hum.Ecol I; (3) : 319-320
Gopalam KB and Rao PR (1981). Genetic studies on Vysya of Andhra Pradesh, South India-A1, A2, B, O, Rh, Tf, GC, Hp and Pseudocholinesterase types. Acta Anthropo Genet.5 (3) : 175-180
Kumar BA (2000). A study on some genetic markers in Padmanayaka Velamas, MSc project report, Dept of Human Genetics Andhra University, Visakhapatnam. Unpublished
Naidu JM, Veerraju P and Rao TV (1985 a). Red cell enzymes and Serum proteins among the Brahmins and Kammas of coastal Andhra Pradesh, India. Ann.Hum.Biol.12 (3) : 291-293
Naidu JM, Yasmin and Sachidevi (1990). Further data on ABO and Rh blood groups among Andhra Populations. J.Hum.Ecol.1: 53-54
Naidu VM (2000). A study on some genetic markers in Sishta Karanam, MSc project report, Dept of Human Genetics Andhra University, Visakhapatnam. Unpublished
Parvatheesam Ch (1995). A population genetic treatise of Rajaka Caste from Andhra Pradesh, PhD thesis, Andhra University, Visakhapatnam. Unpublished
Rajeswari K (1992). A Study on Some Genetic Markers in Kalinga caste of Andhra Pradesh, M Phil Thesis Andhra University, Visakhapatnam. Unpublished
Ramesh M (1992). A Genetic study of the Rellis, PhD thesis, Andhra University, Visakhapatnam. Unpublished
Rao IS (1996). A Population genetic study of Viswabrahmin PhD thesis, Andhra University, Visakhapatnam. Unpublished
Rao PR and Ramaswamy V (1974). Cited from Ind.J Phys. Anthrop and Hum.Gen: 10 (2 and3)
Walter H, Paul KP, Maria Hilling et al (1981). Genetic Markers in 8 endogamous populations from Andhra Pradesh, South India. Z.Morph.Anthrop. 72 (3) : 325-338
Thurston E Castes and Tribes of Southern India Vol III. Cosmo Publication, Delhi
Copyright 2002 - the Indian Society of Human Genetics