Gammaglobulin groups (Gm and Inv) of various Southern African populations

Abstract Data are presented on the distribution of the Gm and Inv groups in approximately 3500 individuals belonging to a number of diverse Southern African populations. The indigenous peoples show the presence of the Gm alleles known to occur in Negroes ( Gm 1, 5, 13, 14 , Gm 1, 5, 6, 14 and Gm 1, 5, 6 ) but the Bushmen possess some of them in very low frequencies and have, in addition and in appreciable frequencies the Gm 1 and Gm 1, 13 alleles which have not been reported as occurring in West African populations. The distribution of the Gm 1, 13 allele in various Bantu‐speaking tribes of the sub‐continent reveals a marked cline, increasing from north to south along the eastern seaboard. The correlation between the frequency of Gm 1, 13 and the Khoisan morphological, features present in a number of the tribes, and with the linguistic evidence which has been used to group them is high. The Bushmen possess a Gm 1, 5 allele and may also have a Gm 1, 5, 13, 14, 17, 21 allele. A Gm 1, 2, 5, 13, 14, 17 allele seems to be present in the Bantu. Its presence in Eastern New Guinea would also appear to be indicated by the population data presented here.