Gene diversity in some Muslim populations of North India

Abstract

North Indian Muslim populations have historical, linguistic, and socioreligious significance to the Indian subcontinent. Although sociocultural and political dimensions of their demography are well documented, no detailed genetic structure of the populations is available. We have undertaken a survey of the gene frequencies of the ABO, Rh, PTC taste ability, sickling, and G6PD systems for different endogamous groups: Sheikh, Syed, Pathan, Ansari, Saifi, and Hindu Bania. All the groups at most loci showed statistically nonsignificant differences, except for ABO and PTC traits, for which interpopulational differences were seen. Heterozygosity ranged from 0.048 to 0.617 among the Sheikh, 0.149 to 0.599 among the Pathan, 0.105 to 0.585 among the Ansari, 0.25 to 0.869 among the Syed, 0.107 to 0.565 among the Saifi, and 0.100 to 0.492 among the Hindu Bania. The average D(ST) and G(ST) values for the five marker loci were 0.0625 +/- 0.098 and 0.1072 +/- 0.041, respectively. A dendrogram was constructed using the UPGMA clustering method. Our results revealed that the Pathan and the Sheikh form one cluster, the Syed and the Hindu Bania form another cluster, and the two clusters join together (the so-called higher caste); also, the Saifi and the Ansari form a separate cluster (lower caste). The results of the genetic distance analysis are useful for understanding the pattern of genetic relationships between different endogamous groups of Muslims.