New Genetic Marker in Human Parotid Saliva (Pm)

In 195 parotid saliva samples collected at random from a Japanese population, two phenotypes were observed by electrophoresis in acid-urea starch gels. The protein showing polymorphisms was detected in the middle zone between Pa and Pb, and was tentatively designated Pm. Inheritance was controlled by a dominant allele at an autosomal locus. The frequencies of the genes determining these phenotypes were, for the Japanese population studied, Pm$^{+}$ =.38 ± .03, Pm$^{-}$ =.62 ± .03.