A34 allele frequencies

A*3401

A*3401 when found outside of

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

is primarily found in the

South Asia South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The region consists of the countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.;;;;;;;; ...

Austronesia The Austronesian peoples, sometimes referred to as Austronesian-speaking peoples, are a large group of peoples in Taiwan, Maritime Southeast Asia, Micronesia, coastal New Guinea, Island Melanesia, Polynesia, and Madagascar that speak Austrone ...

and the South/Central part of the

West Pacific Rim The Pacific Rim comprises the lands around the rim of the Pacific Ocean. The ''Pacific Basin'' includes the Pacific Rim and the islands in the Pacific Ocean. The Pacific Rim roughly overlaps with the geologic Pacific Ring of Fire. List of co ...

(WPR). It appears to have made it to Eastern Taiwan's indigenous tribes (Ami,

Yami Yamuna is a sacred river in Hinduism and the main tributary of the Ganges River. The river is also worshipped as a Hindu goddess called Yamuna. Yamuna is known as Yami in early texts, while in later literature, she is called Kalindi. In Hindu scr ...

) but not more north of this region. It has not been detected in any sampling of

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. Over most of the East Pacific Rim region where it is found it is limited to 1 or 2 common

haplotype A haplotype ( haploid genotype) is a group of alleles in an organism that are inherited together from a single parent. Many organisms contain genetic material ( DNA) which is inherited from two parents. Normally these organisms have their DNA or ...

s in strong linkage disequilibrium. This indicates its presence in the WPR region is the result of recent migrations. The A*3401 migration from Africa is supported by its presence in

East Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territories make up Eastern Africa: Due to the historical ...

and

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

and by current models of

human migration Human migration is the movement of people from one place to another with intentions of settling, permanently or temporarily, at a new location (geographic region). The movement often occurs over long distances and from one country to another (ex ...

, this allele was likely represented in the first wave of immigrants. However, in areas were mixtures of these alleles are commonly found,

Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf ( fa, خلیج فارس, translit=xalij-e fârs, lit=Gulf of Persis, Fars, ), sometimes called the ( ar, اَلْخَلِيْجُ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Khalīj al-ˁArabī), is a Mediterranean sea (oceanography), me ...

region and India, A*3401 is relatively uncommon, scarce, or absent. The exception is

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...

, in which A34 is at 2.8% and among

Israeli Jews Israeli Jews or Jewish Israelis ( he, יהודים ישראלים, translit=Yehudim Yisraelim) are Israeli citizens and nationals who are Jewish through either their Jewish ethnicity and/or their adherence to Judaism. The term also includes ...

at 8.8%. Some reports that both A*3401 and A*3402 are in the region, but questionable whether these are perpetually maintained

allele An allele (, ; ; modern formation from Greek ἄλλος ''állos'', "other") is a variation of the same sequence of nucleotides at the same place on a long DNA molecule, as described in leading textbooks on genetics and evolution. ::"The chro ...

frequencies are simply recent migrants.

A*3402

A*3402 is more frequently found in the west, it is found in Iberia and along the mediterranean, but its frequency is low, the exception may be in the Levant, but it is unclear whether this is A*3401 or A*3402.

A34-B Haplotypes

A34 is in strong linkage disequilibrium in many areas of the world, but particularly SE Asia and

Oceania Oceania (, , ) is a region, geographical region that includes Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Spanning the Eastern Hemisphere, Eastern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres, Oceania is estimated to have a land area of ...

. The most prominent of these haplotypes is A34-Cw11(1)-B56. This haplotype is found from

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

to Taiwan to

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

indicating a recent genetic linkage between these peoples. Another frequently found haplotype is the A34-B61 (A*3401:Cw*04:B*B4002) haplotype. This

has a similar distribution as A34-B56. These haplotypes indicate that long range/oversees migrations were taking place in Austronesias (late paleolithic) prehistory.

References

{{HLA-A serotypes 3