Transferrin (Tf) subtypes in US Amerindians, Whites and Blacks using thin‐layer agarose gels: Report on a new variant TfC8

Using 0.5 mm agarose gels for Tf subtyping by isoelectric focusing we were able to identify ten variants at the Tf locus in US Amerindians, Whites and Blacks. The variant TfC4 was found only in the Amerindian populations. This population specific variant had gene frequncies ranging from 0.079 in the Walapi to 0.179 in the Apache. The Black sample studied had a lower incidence of TfC3 than in whites and was the only population with the marker TfD1. Thin agarose gels provided good separation of TfC3 from TfC1. Thin agarose gels provided good separation of TfC3 from TfC1 enabling us to demonstrate a new variant, TfC8, migrating between TfC1 and TfC3.