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American Journal of Human Genetics logoLink to American Journal of Human Genetics
. 1999 Apr;64(4):1071–1075. doi: 10.1086/302313

Age estimates of two common mutations causing factor XI deficiency: recent genetic drift is not necessary for elevated disease incidence among Ashkenazi Jews.

D B Goldstein 1, D E Reich 1, N Bradman 1, S Usher 1, U Seligsohn 1, H Peretz 1
PMCID: PMC1377831  PMID: 10090892

Abstract

The type II and type III mutations at the FXI locus, which cause coagulation factor XI deficiency, have high frequencies in Jewish populations. The type III mutation is largely restricted to Ashkenazi Jews, but the type II mutation is observed at high frequency in both Ashkenazi and Iraqi Jews, suggesting the possibility that the mutation appeared before the separation of these communities. Here we report estimates of the ages of the type II and type III mutations, based on the observed distribution of allelic variants at a flanking microsatellite marker (D4S171). The results are consistent with a recent origin for the type III mutation but suggest that the type II mutation appeared >120 generations ago. This finding demonstrates that the high frequency of the type II mutation among Jews is independent of the demographic upheavals among Ashkenazi Jews in the 16th and 17th centuries.

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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