Genetic diversity in the Lithuanian rural population as illustrated by variation in the ABO and Rh(D) blood groups

Population genetics of Lithuanians

The primary objective of this article was to overview the present-day knowledge on genetic features of the Lithuanian population. Genetic differentiation within the Lithuanian population and the relationship between Lithuanians and other European populations was analysed by means of blood groups, serum protein polymorphisms and DNA markers including mtDNA. The results of the research have shown small differences between present-day Lithuanian ethnolinguistic groups, which probably go back to the prehistoric Baltic tribal structure. The Baltic peoples show a mixture of eastern and western genetic traits, e.g. a high frequency of the blood group B combined with a very high frequency of the Rh-negative blood group. Studies of the Baltic 'tribal gene' LWb indicate the presence of a considerable Baltic admixture in the neighbouring Finno-Ugric and Slavic populations.