Allelic Variation and Haplotype Structure of the Dopamine Receptor Gene DRD2 in Naga Tribes of Manipur, India

The present study investigates the extent of genetic affinities and to trace their evolutionary history among the three Naga tribal groups of Manipur. Three DRD2 markers were screened among 200 individuals belonging to different Naga tribal (Rongmei=60, Inpui= 78, and Liangmai=62) groups using three sites (TaqI B, TaqID, and TaqIA) on the dopamine receptor D2 (DRD2) gene through allele and haplotype frequencies. All the three sites are found to be polymorphic. All the populations share six of the eight haplotypes pointing toward underlying genetic uniformity, which is reaffirmed by regression analysis of heterozygosity on genetic distance. The ancestral haplotype frequency B2D2A1 is found to range between 6.8-19.2 %. Our finding reveals that the highest ancestral haplotype frequency among the Liangmai has been supported to the origin hypothesis that Liangmai (19.2 %) is the oldest among the three populations.