Distribution of some genetic traits in three populations from Punjab, North India.

Three population groups, viz. Jat Sikh (192), Khatri (105) and Balmiki (108) were screened for haptoglobins, transferrins, Australia antigen, antigen Dd-reactivity and the ABO blood groups. The frequencies in Jat Sikhs, Khatris and Balmikis were 0.232, 0.186 and 0.140 respectively for Hp1 allele, 0.52%, 0.95% and 1.85% for Australia antigen, and 17.30%, 21.90% and 19.44% for antibodies against antigen Dd. The transferrins were all of type Tf C. The frequencies for the alleles A, B and O of the ABO system were 0.216, 0.239 and 0.545 in Jat Sikhs, 0.238, 0.320 and 0.442 in Khatris, and 0.196, 0.274 and 0.530 in Balmikis. Our tests showed these populations to be in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium.