GENETIC RELATIONSHIPS AMONG SIXTEEN ETHNIC GROUPS FROM MALAYSIA AND SOUTHEAST ASIA

Gene frequencies for five polymorphic protein-coding loci namely phosphoglucomutase I, adenosine deaminase, 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase, haptoglobin and transferrin were used to calculate genetic distances between pairs of populations. The genetic relationships among eight ethnic groups from Malaysia and eight ethnic groups from other parts of Southeast Asia were obtained by clustering based on their genetic distances using UPGMA. Two major clusters were obtained, one containing three non-Mongoloid ethnic groups, Indians, Senoi and Aetas and the other containing 13 Mongoloid ethnic groups, Kadazan, Malays, Chinese, Bataks, Land Dayaks, Iban, Visayan, Tagalog, Paiwan, Aboriginal Malays, Ifugao, Atayal and Bunun.