The Duffy blood group system in Israeli Jews and Arabs.

The distribution of the Fy gene was studied in 1,207 Israeli Jews and 509 Arabs. The Fy(a--b--) phenotype (FyFy) was observed in Moslem, Christian and Druze Arabs, and in Jewish immigrants from Yemen and Iraq, but not in Sephardi or Ashkenazi Jews. The Fy gene frequencies in Arabs and Jews were compatible with historical evidence of interactions with native African and admixed regional populations. Compared with Rho (cDe) and Jsa, Fy(a--b--) is a more useful genetic marker for recognizing African admixture in Middle Eastern populations.