A leftward deletional alpha+ thalassemia found in East Sicily in conjunction with heterozygous beta-thalassemia.
Two types of alpha+ thalassemia (-alpha l) have been described, respectively termed leftward and rightward, which correspond to nonhomologous crossing-over in different homology zones X and Z within the alpha-globin gene cluster. Up to now the leftward type has been described only in Asiatic populations, whereas the rightward type is universally distributed. We report here a first case of leftward deletion observed in a Sicilian male. This raises the question of an identical or not crossing-over event.
D000368:Aged; D003434:Crossing Over, Genetic; D005796:Genes; D005914:Globins / Q000235:genetics*; D006579:Heterozygote; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012802:Sicily; D013789:Thalassemia / Q000235:genetics*
D005914:Globins