DISTRIBUTION OF Gc SUBTYPES IN FOUR ALBANIAN AND THREE SERBO — CROATIAN COMMUNITIES OF MOLISE, ITALY. Peter Lindenberg and Gianfranco Biondi (Universitat Bremen, Abt.f. Humanbiologie/Anthropologie, D-2800 Bremen 33, F.R.G. and Universita di Roma, Istituto di Antropologia, I-00185 Roma, Italy) Introduction During the 15th century many Albanian and Serbo-Croa- tian groups came to the Adriatic side of central-southern Italy as a consequence of the Turkish occupation of the Balkan area. At the present time, only in the considered villages the population has maintained the use of the Albanian and Serbo-Croatian language, respectively (Biondi et al., 1983; Biondi et al., 1984). This investigation is part of a greater study about genetic consequences of isolation and its breakdown, re- sulting from the increase of social mobility, in order to understand the microevolution of complex societies. Material and methods This study was carried out on N= 360 schoolboys and -girls living in the four Albanian communities of Monte- cilfone (n=74), Ururi (n= 84), Portocannone (n=48) and Campomarino (n=154) and N=174 schoolboys and -girls living in the three Serbo-Croatian communities of Acqua- viva Collecroce (n=77), Montemitro (n= 34) and S. Felice di Molise (n=63). The determination of the Ge (group specific component) subtypes was done by isoelectric focusing (IEF) on poly- acrylamide gels (PAG) according to Dannewitz (1985). Results and discussion The distribution of observed and expected phenotype frequencies are in good agreement, and the Hardy-Weinberg A Mel tl ML Lt ' nogenetics 1 id K. Henningsen = © Springer-Vérlag Berlin Heidelberg 1986 254 equilibrium can be assumed for all seven samples under study. The resulting frequencies of the three allotypes Gc*1F, Gce*x1S and Gce*2 are shown in tables 1 and 2. Furthermore one Gc variant was found, which is not yet identified. For heterogeneity analysis the X* test has been applied. Intragroup analysis of the Albanian and Serbo-Croatian samples revealed statistically significant homogeneities (tables 1 and 2). Analysis of both groups combined revealed as well significant homogeneity: X* =2.80, p=0.2464 (d.f. 2). When comparing these results with those so far pub- lished for the central-southern Italian population (Bargag- na et al., 1983; Petrucci and Congedo, 1983; Kannapinn, not published), it reveals a highly significant heterogeneity: XxX’? = 52.38 , p=0.0001 (d.f. 20). Conspicuously there is an increased frequency of the Gc*x1F allotype in the investigated communities, particu- larly in Acquaviva Collecroce, which could be of special interest, because the endogamy rate of just this village is the highest of all under study. An effect of drift can be assumed in this case. The evaluation of the total study is still in progress and will cover altogether 18 polymorphic genetic systems. The results may hopefully lead to some more knowledge about isolated populations and their genetic structure. References Bargagna, M.; Domenici, R.; Giari, A.: Distribution of Gc, Pi and Tf subtypes by isoelectric focusing in Tuscany. 10th International Congress of the Society for Forensic Haemogenetics, Munich 11.-15.10.1983: 381 - 386 (1983) Biondi, G.3; Lombardozzi, A.; Capucci, E.; Terrenato, L.: A demographic investigation of the four Albanian com- munities living in Molise, Italy. Anthrop. Anz. 41: 33 - 45 (1983) 259 Biondi, G.3; Rickards, O,; Roberto, M.G.; Terrenato, L.: Demography of the three Slavic communities of Molise, Italy. Anthrop. Anz. 42: 23-30 (1984) Dannewitz, A.: Neue isoelektrische Fokussierungsmethode zur Bestimmung der Gc-Globulin- und Transferrin-Sub- typen. Arztl. Lab. 31: 91-94 (1985) Kannapin, G.: Untersuchungen zur Variabilitat des Gc-Sub- type-Polymorphismus in Italien. M.sc. thesis, Bremen 1984, not published Petrucci, R.; Congedo, P.: Genetic studies of Gc (Vitamin D binding globulin) polymorphism in the population of Latium (Italy). Journal of Human Evolution 12: 439 (1983) Population N Allele Gco*1F Gce*1sS Gco*2 Montecilfone 74 0.1959 0.5743 0.2297 Ururl 84 0.1369 0.5774 0.2857 Portocannone 48 0.2187 0.6047 0.1771 Campomarino 154 0.1851 0.5162 0.2987 Heterogeneity analysis: X* =9.506 (d.f. 6) 0.20>p>0.10 Table 1. Distribution of Ge allele frequencies in four Albanian communities of Molise, Italy. 256 Population N Allele Gco*1F Gc*1S Gcx*2 Acquaviva Collecroce 77 0.2662 0.4805 0.2532 Montemitro 34 0.1618 0.5588 0.2794 S.Felice di Molise 63 0.1984 0.5238 0.2778 Heterogeneity analysis: X’* = 3.703 (d.f. 4) 0.50>p 20.30 Table 2. Distribution of Gc allele frequencies in three Serbo-Croatian communities of Molise, Italy..