Most of the population in certain areas of Melanesia have one alpha-globin gene deletion (alpha thal2). It is thought that the high frequencies of alpha thal2 in this population is due to a selective advantage given by malaria infection to carriers of alpha thal2. We are interested in neighboring Polynesia which, although adjacent to Melanesia, has always been free of malaria due to the absence of the vector anopheles. We studied 60 Polynesian Samoans and 150 Malaysians by restriction endonuclease gene mapping using Eco RI, Bam HI, and Bgl II and hybridization to 32P-labeled alpha-globin gene probe. Seven among the 60 (11.7%) Samoans had triplicated alpha-globin loci type 1, while none had alpha thal2. On digestion with Bgl II the third alpha-globin gene was found in an additional 3.7 kb fragment in all seven Samoans with triplicated alpha-globin loci, while digestion with Bam HI produced an abnormal elongated 18.2 kb fragment carrying alpha-globin genes in addition to the normal 14.5 kb fragment. None of the Polynesian Samoans had alpha thal2 or alpha thal1. Only two of the Malaysians had triplicated alpha-globin loci.
The white blood cell DNA of 36 cord blood samples with Hb Bart's in the red blood cells was studied for alpha-globin gene deletions by hybridization of DNA fragments digested by the restriction endonucleases Eco RI, Hpa I, Bam HI, and Bgl II. All 16 DNA samples from cord blood with Hb Bart's below 3% and no other abnormal hemoglobin had one alpha-globin gene deletion (alpha thal2), except one which had two alpha-globin gene deletions (alpha thal1). Most of the alpha thal2 were of the rightward deletion alpha thal2 genotype. Two new types of alpha thal2 variation was found, probably due to a polymorphism somewhere in an area outside the alpha-globin gene. All 14 cases with Hb Bart's between 3.5% and 8.5% and no other abnormal hemoglobin had two alpha-globin gene deletions (alpha thal1), except one that did not have any alpha-globin gene deletion and one that had one alpha-globin gene deletion. Three DNA samples of cord blood with Hb Bart's accompanied by Hb CoSp did not have any alpha-globin gene deletion. Sixty-five DNA samples from cord blood without Hb Bart's or other abnormal hemoglobin had no alpha-globin gene deletions, except one that had one alpha-globin gene deletion (alpha thal2). Two of the 65 DNA samples were found to have triplicated alpha-globin gene loci.