Skip to main content
PMC home page
American Journal of Human Genetics logoLink to American Journal of Human Genetics
. 1992 Jan;50(1):145–155.

Caucasian genes in American blacks: new data.

R Chakraborty 1, M I Kamboh 1, M Nwankwo 1, R E Ferrell 1
PMCID: PMC1682537  PMID: 1729885

Abstract

Data on 15 polymorphic protein-coding loci are used to estimate the proportion of Caucasian genes in U.S. blacks from the greater-metropolitan area of Pittsburgh. Allele frequencies from U.S. whites of the same region and from a sample of Nigerians are used as representatives of the genetic contributions of the source populations between which admixture has occurred. These materials provide 18 unique variants that occur exclusively in the blacks and 5 variants that are restricted to the Caucasians only. As a result, when all segregating alleles (52) at these 15 loci are considered, the proportion (mean +/- SE) of Caucasian genes in U.S. blacks (25.2% +/- 2.7%) is estimated with a precision much better than that of all other previous estimates. The estimate based on the frequencies of these 18 unique variants of African origin (24.8% +/- 6.2%) is also consistent with the pooled estimate obtained from the 15 loci by the weighted least-square method. The homogeneity of locus-specific estimates of admixture indicates that these loci are appropriate for studying the proportion of black genes in any admixed population involving African admixture. The advantages of employing such loci for genetic-epidemiologic studies in U.S. blacks is discussed in the context of the availability of these large number of unique African variants at these protein loci.

Full text

PDF
145

Selected References

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

  1. ABRAHAMS D. G., ALELE C. A., BARNARD B. G. The systemic blood pressure in a rural West African community. West Afr Med J. 1960 Apr;9:45–58. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Adams-Campbell L. L., Nwankwo M. U., Omene J. A., Ukoli F. A., Young M. P., Haile G. T., Kuller L. H. Assessment of cardiovascular risk factors in Nigerian students. Arteriosclerosis. 1988 Nov-Dec;8(6):793–796. doi: 10.1161/01.atv.8.6.793. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Adams J., Ward R. H. Admixture studies and the detection of selection. Science. 1973 Jun 15;180(4091):1137–1143. doi: 10.1126/science.180.4091.1137. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Bunker C. H., Nwankwo M. U., Ukoli F. A., Omene J. A., Currier G. W., Holifield L. R., Freeman D. T., Vergis E. N., Yeh L. L., Kuller L. H. Factors related to blood pressure among urban Nigerian workers. J Hum Hypertens. 1990 Apr;4(2):82–84. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Byard P. J., Schanfield M. S., Crawford M. H. Admixture and heterozygosity in West Alaskan populations. J Biosoc Sci. 1983 Apr;15(2):207–216. doi: 10.1017/s0021932000014498. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Chakraborty R., Ferrell R. E., Stern M. P., Haffner S. M., Hazuda H. P., Rosenthal M. Relationship of prevalence of non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus to Amerindian admixture in the Mexican Americans of San Antonio, Texas. Genet Epidemiol. 1986;3(6):435–454. doi: 10.1002/gepi.1370030608. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Chakraborty R., Kamboh M. I., Ferrell R. E. 'Unique' alleles in admixed populations: a strategy for determining 'hereditary' population differences of disease frequencies. Ethn Dis. 1991 Summer;1(3):245–256. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Chakraborty R., Weiss K. M. Frequencies of complex diseases in hybrid populations. Am J Phys Anthropol. 1986 Aug;70(4):489–503. doi: 10.1002/ajpa.1330700408. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Dischinger P. C., Apostolides A. Y., Entwisle G., Hebel J. R. Hypertension incidence in an inner-city black population. J Chronic Dis. 1981;34(8):405–413. doi: 10.1016/0021-9681(81)90039-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Escallon M. H., Ferrell R. E., Kamboh M. I. Genetic studies of low-abundance human plasma proteins. V. Evidence for a second orosomucoid structural locus (ORM2) expressed in plasma. Am J Hum Genet. 1987 Sep;41(3):418–427. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. GLASS B. On the unlikelihood of significant admixture of genes from the North American Indians in the present composition of the Negroes of the United States. Am J Hum Genet. 1955 Dec;7(4):368–385. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Hanis C. L., Chakraborty R., Ferrell R. E., Schull W. J. Individual admixture estimates: disease associations and individual risk of diabetes and gallbladder disease among Mexican-Americans in Starr County, Texas. Am J Phys Anthropol. 1986 Aug;70(4):433–441. doi: 10.1002/ajpa.1330700404. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Harburg E., Gleibermann L., Roeper P., Schork M. A., Schull W. J. Skin color, ethnicity, and blood pressure I: Detroit blacks. Am J Public Health. 1978 Dec;68(12):1177–1183. doi: 10.2105/ajph.68.12.1177. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. KAMINER B., LUTZ W. P. Blood pressure in Bushmen of the Kalahari Desert. Circulation. 1960 Aug;22:289–295. doi: 10.1161/01.cir.22.2.289. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Kamboh M. I., Albers J. J., Majumder P. P., Ferrell R. E. Genetic studies of human apolipoproteins. IX. Apolipoprotein D polymorphism and its relation to serum lipoprotein lipid levels. Am J Hum Genet. 1989 Jul;45(1):147–154. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Kamboh M. I., Ferrell R. E. Ethnic variation in vitamin D-binding protein (GC): a review of isoelectric focusing studies in human populations. Hum Genet. 1986 Apr;72(4):281–293. doi: 10.1007/BF00290950. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Kamboh M. I., Lyons L. A., Ferrell R. E. Genetic studies of low-abundance human plasma proteins. XIII. Population genetics of C1R complement subcomponent and description of new variants. Am J Hum Genet. 1989 Jan;44(1):148–153. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Long J. C., Smouse P. E. Intertribal gene flow between the Ye'cuana and Yanomama: genetic analysis of an admixed village. Am J Phys Anthropol. 1983 Aug;61(4):411–422. doi: 10.1002/ajpa.1330610403. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Long J. C. The genetic structure of admixed populations. Genetics. 1991 Feb;127(2):417–428. doi: 10.1093/genetics/127.2.417. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. MacLean C. H., Adams M. S., Leyshon W. C., Workman P. L., Reed T. E., Gershowitz H., Weitkamp L. R. Genetic studies on hybrid populations. 3. Blood pressure in an American black community. Am J Hum Genet. 1974 Sep;26(5):614–626. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Neel J. V. "Private" genetic variants and the frequency of mutation among South American Indians. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1973 Dec;70(12):3311–3315. doi: 10.1073/pnas.70.12.3311. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Oviasu V. O. Arterial blood pressures and hypertension in a rural Nigerian community. Afr J Med Med Sci. 1978 Sep;7(3):137–143. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. ROBERTS D. F. The dynamics of racial intermixture in the American Negro-some anthropological considerations. Am J Hum Genet. 1955 Dec;7(4):361–367. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  24. Reed T. E. Caucasian genes in American Negroes. Science. 1969 Aug 22;165(3895):762–768. doi: 10.1126/science.165.3895.762. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  25. Szathmary E. J., Reed T. E. Calculation of the maximum amount of gene admixture in a hybrid population. Am J Phys Anthropol. 1978 Jan;48(1):29–33. doi: 10.1002/ajpa.1330480106. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  26. Williams R. C., Steinberg A. G., Knowler W. C., Pettitt D. J. Gm 3;5,13,14 and stated-admixture: independent estimates of admixture in American Indians. Am J Hum Genet. 1986 Sep;39(3):409–413. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from American Journal of Human Genetics are provided here courtesy of American Society of Human Genetics

RESOURCES