title: Allele frequencies of the ABCC11 gene for earwax phenotypes among ancient populations of Hokkaido, Japan.
abstract: Human earwax is classified into wet and dry types, which are determined by a single-nucleotide polymorphism in the adenosine triphosphate-binding cassette, sub-family C11 (ABCC11) gene locus. To investigate the allele frequencies of the ABCC11 locus within ancient populations on the Northern Japanese island of Hokkaido, amplified product-length polymorphisms were analyzed for 50 specimens of the Okhotsk people and 35 specimens of the Jomon and Epi-Jomon people excavated from various archaeological sites of Hokkaido. Of these specimens, 31 Okhotsk and 19 Jomon/Epi-Jomon samples were genotyped successfully. Frequencies of the wet-type allele in the Jomon/Epi-Jomon people, considered a major ancestor of the Ainu, were higher than those of other Northeastern Asian populations, including the modern Ainu. By contrast, in the Okhotsk people, believed to originate from East Siberia, frequencies of the dry-type allele were relatively higher than those in the Ainu and Jomon/Epi-Jomon people. These results suggest that gene flow from the Northeastern Asian Continent to descendants of the Jomon/Epi-Jomon people of Hokkaido through the Okhotsk people occurred, resulting in the establishment of the Ainu.
authors: Department of Natural History Sciences, Graduate School of Science, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan.
authors: Takehiro
authors: T
authors: Sato
authors: Tetsuya
authors: T
authors: Amano
authors: Hiroko
authors: H
authors: Ono
authors: Hajime
authors: H
authors: Ishida
authors: Haruto
authors: H
authors: Kodera
authors: Hirofumi
authors: H
authors: Matsumura
authors: Minoru
authors: M
authors: Yoneda
authors: Ryuichi
authors: R
authors: Masuda
mesh_terms: D018528:ATP-Binding Cassette Transporters / Q000235:genetics*; D000483:Alleles; D001106:Archaeology; D044466:Asian People / Q000235:genetics*; D002571:Cerumen / Q000378:metabolism*; D005580:Fossils; D005787:Gene Frequency; D005838:Genotype; D005843:Geography; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan; D010641:Phenotype
chemical_list: C435500:ABCC11 protein, human; D018528:ATP-Binding Cassette Transporters