Gene geography of the indigenous population of Marii El: Immunological and biochemical polymorphism

The geographic distribution of the frequencies of genes related to the immunological and biochemical polymorphism was studied in the Maris, who are the indigenous population of the Marii El Republic: Data on the frequencies of 33 alleles of 10 loci (ABO, TF, GC, PI, HP, AHS, F13B, ACP1, PGM1, and GLO1) in five raions (districts) of Marii Fl were obtained. Computer interpolation maps were constructed for all alleles. The maps allows to predict the distribution of the alleles throughout Marii El. A map of the reliability of the cartographic prediction was drawn. For the first time. the reliability of predicted gene frequencies were taken into account in constructing and interpreting the maps of gene frequencies. For the entire set of the studied genes, parameters of heterozygosity (H-S) and gene diversity (G(ST)) were estimated. Cartographic correlation analysis was performed to reveal the relationship between gene frequencies and geographic coordinates. It was found that 42% of the studied genes predominantly correlated with latitude and 9% with longitude. It was assumed that the genetic structure of Mari populations had been mainly determined by latitude-related factors. A map of Nei's genetic distances between the overall Mari gene pool and the local populations revealed a central core, which was close to the "average Mari" gene pool, and a periphery, which was genetically distant from it. Suggestions on the microevolution of the Mari gene pool were advanced. Maps of the genes with the most characteristic genetic relief (ABO*B, ACP*A, TF*D, GC*1F, PI*M2, HP*1F, and F13B*3) are shown. These maps exhibit a high correlation with the maps of principal components.