A Microsatellite Guided Insight into the Genetic Status of Adi, an Isolated Hunting-Gathering Tribe of Northeast India

Tibeto-Burman populations of India provide an insight into the peopling of India and aid in understanding their genetic relationship with populations of East, South and Southeast Asia. The study investigates the genetic status of one such Tibeto-Burman group, Adi of Arunachal Pradesh based on 15 autosomal microsatellite markers. Further the study examines, based on 9 common microsatellite loci, the genetic relationship of Adi with 16 other Tibeto-Burman speakers of India and 28 neighboring populations of East and Southeast Asia. Overall, the results support the recent formation of the Adi sub-tribes from a putative ancestral group and reveal that geographic contiguity is a major influencing factor of the genetic affinity among the Tibeto-Burman populations of India

Toward Male Individualization with Rapidly Mutating Y-Chromosomal Short Tandem Repeats

Peer reviewe

Multilocus association of genetic variants in MLL, CREBBP, EP300, and TOP2A with childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia in Hispanics from Texas.

BACKGROUND: Hispanic children have both a higher incidence and a poorer outcome in acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). Moreover, a higher incidence for therapy-related acute myeloid leukemia with 11q23 translocations after treatment with topoisomerase II (topo II) inhibitors has been observed in Hispanic children with ALL. We sought to determine the potential role of genetic variants within the topoisomerase IIα gene (TOP2A), within the mixed lineage leukemia gene (MLL) and two of its translocation partners, cyclin AMP response element-binding protein gene (CREBBP) and E1A binding protein gene (EP300) in the increased sensitivity of Hispanic children with ALL to topo II inhibitors. METHODS: Fifty-two tagged single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) covering the four genes were genotyped in 241 samples (66 children with ALL and 175 age matched controls) of self-identified Hispanic origin. RESULTS: Two SNPs within MLL (rs525549 and rs6589664) and three SNPs within EP300 (rs5758222, rs7286979, and rs20551) were significantly associated with ALL (P = 0.001-0.04). A significant gene-dosage effect for increasing numbers of potential high-risk genotypes (OR = 16.66; P = 2 × 10(-5)) and a major haplotype significantly associated with ALL (OR = 5.68; P = 2 × 10(-6)) were found. Replication in a sample of 137 affected White children and 239 controls showed that only rs6589664 (MLL) was significantly associated in this ethnic group. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings indicate that the association between ALL and common genetic variants within MLL and EP300 is population specific. IMPACT: Replication of our findings in independent Hispanic populations is warranted to elucidate the role of these variants in ALL susceptibility and define their importance in the ethnic specific differences in ALL risk

Morphological adaptation of the skull for various behaviors in the tree shrews

Journal of Veterinary Medical Science658873-87