Population genetic studies of the Philippine Negritos. III. Identification of the carbonic anhydrase-1 variant with CA1 Guam.

Investigation of blood samples from 277 Mamanwas of northeastern Mindanao, Philippines, confirmed the concentration of the variant carbonic anhydrase-1 (CA1 3N) in this group. The frequency for the variant allele was estimated at .217 +/- .017. It occurs also in the Manobos, the Mongoloid indigenous inhabitants of the same district, although the frequency is low (.019 +/- .008). Survey of samples from other Philippine populations, including the Aeta and the Ifugao of Luzon, failed to find variants. This findings suggests different origins of the Aeta and the Mamanwa, although both are usually referred to as Negritos. The Ca1 3N protein was purified by affinity chromatography using azosulfonamide and rechromatography on a DEAE-Sephadex column. The tryptic peptide pattern of CA1 3N was similar to that of CA1 Guam already reported. Furthermore, amino acid analyses of the tryptic peptides indicated that CA1 3N is characterized by the substitution 253 Gly leads to Arg, confirming the identity of this variant with CA1 Guam. The widespread occurrence of CA1 3 variants in the Western Pacific suggests that this variant was once common in an aboriginal population of this region, from which it was scattered by gene flow.