Development of a Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (RFLP) Database for Punjabis in East Punjab, India

In response to continuing interest in obtaining reference deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) analysis data for previously unstudied population groups, blood samples were collected from Punjabi individuals living in East Punjab, India. This first segment of our research is focused on restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis, with future segments anticipated for various polymerase chain reaction (PCR) based techniques. In this study, the samples were subjected to RFLP analysis using Hae III, followed by hybridization with variable number tandem repeat (VNTR) probes for loci D2S44, D1S7, D10S28, D4S139, D17S79 and D5S110. The band sizes of the resulting patterns were estimated using an FBI imaging system. The resulting data were subjected to statistical analysis for conformity with Hardy-Weinberg expectations, first for the total population of Punjabis, and additionally for the subgroups of Sikhs and Hindus. The loci are highly polymorphic in all sample populations studied. Except for D5S110, there is no evidence for departure from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (HWE) for the VNTR loci in the population groups. In addition, there is little evidence of correlation between the alleles at any of the pairs of loci and no evidence of association across the six loci. Finally, the data suggest that a multiple locus VNTR profile would be rare in the Punjabi or either of its subgroups.