The distribution of esterase D variants in different ethnic groups.

Blood samples collected from a number of human populations belonging to various ethnic groups were screened on cellogel for red-cell esterase D (ESD) variants. These data gathered during the present study together with those that have already appeared in the literature indicate that the common variant allele ESD2 occurs most frequently in the Mongoloid populations, least frequently in the Negroid, and with intermediate frequencies in the Caucasoids. An east to west cline was noticed in the northern populations of the Indian subcontinent; ESD2 gene frequencies in these populations were found to range between those among the Mongoloids and the Caucasoids.