A new epsilon globin HincII variant fragment length in a South African Negroid family.

A new HincII epsilon globin variant is reported in a South African Negroid family. The usual HincII epsilon globin fragment lengths are 8.0 and 3.7 kb and the variant described here is 14.0 kb in length. The 14.0 kb fragment was generated by a site alteration removing the 3' HincII site on a chromosome that already lacked the 5' HincII site. It appears that there are differences among races with regard to the frequencies of the 8.0 and 3.7 kb alleles. The 3.7 kb allele is the more common form in Caucasoids whereas the 8.0 kb allele occurs in the majority of Negroid and Khoisan subjects.