Typing classical polymorphisms by real-time PCR: Analysis of the GPT and ALAD protein polymorphisms in the Jewish populations

Expanding the already extensive data array on classical polymorphisms in new populations is beneficial to full characterization of the intricate relationships between human populations. This can be done in a short time on a large-scale by using real-time PCR. The red-cell enzymes Δ-aminolevulinate dehydratase (ALAD) and glutamate pyruvate transaminase (GPT) have each two alleles that can be separated by protein electrophoresis. They were previously characterized by protein electrophoresis in some of the Jewish populations. We designed primers and probes for fluorescence resonance energy transfer detection of the ALAD and GPT alleles to type Jewish populations including some in which these polymorphisms have not been studied in the past. The methods described here allow fast and efficient determination of these common classical polymorphisms. When used in large-scale population studies, these methods are not only faster, but also cheaper than amplification followed by restriction enzyme digestion and gel electrophoresis. The frequency of ALAD*1 among Jews ranges from 0.781 to 0.960 and that of GPT*1 from 0.412 to 0.773. A maximum likelihood tree based on the ALAD and GPT polymorphisms and five other red-cells enzymes polymorphisms depicts quite accurately the known historic, anthropological, and geographic relations between the Jewish populations.