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Science 13 October 1972:
Vol. 178. no. 4057, pp. 176 - 178
DOI: 10.1126/science.178.4057.176
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Articles

Galactokinase: Evidence for a New Racial Polymorphism

Thomas A. Tedesco 1, Robert Bonow 1, Karen Miller 1, and William J. Mellman 1

1 Departments of Medical Genetics and Pediatrics, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia 19104

Activities of galactokinase and galactose-1-phosphate uridyltransferase in red cells were assayed in a mixed racial population of 645 pregnant women. The distribution of individual transferase activities for black subjects was the same as that for whites. In contrast, the distributions of individual galactokinase activities differed significantly in blacks and whites, the mean for the black population being 30 percent lower than the mean for the white population. The same racial difference was found when red cell galactokinase activity was examined in males and in newborns. Because low-, intermediate-, and high-galactokinase activities appear to segregate within several black families, this observed difference suggests a new, racially determined enzyme polymorphism.


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Presenile Cataract Formation and Decreased Activity of Galactosemic Enzymes.
H. W. Skalka and J. T. Prchal (1980)
Arch Ophthalmol 98, 269-273
   Abstract »    PDF »
Pyridoxal kinase: decreased activity in red blood cells of Afro-Americans.
C. Chern and E Beutler (1975)
Science 187, 1084-1086
   Abstract »    PDF »


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