HLA Antigens and Other Genetic Markers in the Mapuche Indians of Argentina

Abstract

A total of 107 Mapuche Indians living in western Argentina were studied with respect to 16 genetic systems. For HLA, there were a few differences in relation to previous studies; and considering the averages observed in 15 other South American tribes, Mapuche Indians showed low values for A2, A9 and C3, but high ones for A28 and B16. This is the first report of the presence (in low frequencies, 1–6%) of alleles C2, C6 and C7, as well as of DR antigens (most frequent alleles DR4 and DR2) in South American Indians. Some peculiar reactions shown by products of locus B suggest the presence of antigens that are characteristic of the Mapuche. As for the other systems, the frequencies of R¹ (Rh) and PGM¹₁ were lower but those for r (Rh), GLO¹ and Hp¹ were higher than the averages obtained considering previous studies of this ethnic group. Other salient findings were the variability observed in the PGM2 and C3 systems, and the low prevalence of Bf^S.

Demography, genetic diversity, and population relationships among Argentinean Mapuche Indians

“…The low number of children per completed family in Aguada Guzmán suggests or indicates that non-Indian fertility control measures are presently being taken in this community, with other factors, such as excessive prenatal losses, being unlikely explanations. The indices of opportunity for natural selection were of the same order of magnitude as those observed in Argentinean from Chile by Sandoval and Henckel (1954), Witkop and Gaiser (1960), Etcheverry et al (1967), and Matson et al (1967), and from Argentina by Matson et al (1969) and Haas et al (1985). Null or low frequencies of DI*A were observed in five Mapuche populations of the two countries, indicating that this may be a distinctive trait of this tribe.…”

“…The Mapuche Indians have been the subject of several demographic and genetic studies, the first surveys dating back to the 1930s (reviewed in Haas et al, 1985;Carnese et al, 1996). Our investigations started in 1990, with studies of several communities in Río Negro Province, Argentina.…”

Genetic relationships between Amerindian populations of Argentina

“…While no previous genetic studies known to us have been performed among the Tehuelche, not less than 13 were undertaken among the Mapuche (Sandoval et al, 1946;Sandoval and Henckel, 1954;Meza Arrau et al, 1958;Parker and Bearn, 1961;Etcheverry et al, 1962Etcheverry et al, , 1967Guzman et al, 1962;Nagel and Etcheverry, 1963;Matson et al, 1967Matson et al, , 1969Degrossi et al, 1969;Mestriner et al, 1976;Haas et al, 1985). As for the Chaco groups (Choroti, Mataco, and Toba), 12 previous investigations involving at least one of them could be located (Mazza et al, 1933;Alvarez, 1939;Mazza, 1939;Paulotti, 1948;Saguier Negrete, 1964;Matson et al, 1968Matson et al, , 1969Cabutti and Palatnik, 1973;Brown et al, 1974;Quilici, 1975;Vergnes et al, 1976;Pagés Larraya et al, 1978).…”

“…Am J Phys Anthropol 115: 133-143, 2001. The Argentinian Indians have been studied from the genetic point of view at irregular intervals, since the first report by Mazza and Franke (1927) about the ABO blood groups of 120 individuals from several tribes, living in the Salta Province. These investigations were reviewed by Haas et al (1985), Palatnik (1987), Carnese (1995), Acreche et al (1996), and Goicoechea et al (1996). However, the majority of these studies involved blood group markers alone.…”

Genetic variation within the Tupi linguistic group: new data on three Amazonian tribes

“…(3) Four Urubu-Kaapor, but none of the 114 Bom Jardim Parakan~ subjects presented the PGM 2 11-1 phenotype, previously only observed in one Parakang Indian of the Velho village and among the Argentinian Mapuche (Black et al 1980, Haas, Salzano, Araujo, Grossman, Barbetti, Weimer, Franco, Verruno, Nasif, Morales andArienti 1985).…”