_____________________________________________________________________________________________________ *Corresponding author: Email: mdniamat@hotmail.com; Original Research Article UTTAR PRADESH JOURNAL OF ZOOLOGY 41(4): 39-42, 2020 ISSN: 0256-971X (P) ALLELE FREQUENCY OF ABO AND RHESUS (Rh D) BLOOD GROUP SYSTEM AMONG THE ETHNIC STUDENTS OF LADAKH, INDIA MOHD MURTAZA 1 , MD. NIAMAT ALI 1* AND MAHRUKH HAMEED ZARGAR 2 1 Cytogenetic and Molecular Biology Research Laboratory, Centre of Research for Development, University of Kashmir, Srinagar-190006, J&K, India. 2 Advanced Centre for Human Genetic, SKIMS Soura, Srinagar-190011, J&K, India. AUTHORS’ CONTRIBUTIONS This work was carried out in collaboration among all authors. Author MM designed the study, performed the statistical analysis, wrote the protocol and wrote the first draft of the manuscript. Authors MNA and MHZ managed the analyses of the study. Author MNA managed the literature searches. All authors read and approved the final manuscript. Received: 02 February 2020 Accepted: 09 April 2020 Published: 22 April 2020 ABSTRACT The ABO and Rhesus (Rh D) blood groups are the most important blood group systems among the long list of several other blood groups discovered so far. ABO and Rh D blood groups are antigenic and hereditary in nature. These blood groups are useful in the studies of population genetic to resolve medico-legal issues and more importantly the immunologic safety of blood during a transfusion. The ABO and Rh D blood groups vary globally and are not found in equal numbers among ethnic groups. The study area chosen was based on the fact that the schools enrolled students belong from all sections of the society. The blood tests were done among students after taking proper consent. The main purpose of this study was to determine the allele frequency of ABO and Rh D blood group among school students. The study found that the overall ABO allele frequency of I a allele (p) was 0.177, I b allele (q) 0.327 and I o allele (r) 0.494. The allele frequency of Rh factor was I D (v) (0.731) and I d (u) 0.269. This study also found that the phenotypic prevalence of blood group B was highest with the percentage of 33.7 followed by blood group A (30.4%), O (24.5%) and AB (11.25). The percentage of Rh positive was 92.71% and that of Rh negative was found to be 7.28% only. Keywords: Kargil; ABO blood group; alleles; phenotypes and genotype. 1. INTRODUCTION Human red blood cells contain a series of glycoproteins and glycolipids that are present on their surface, which constitute blood group antigens. These antigens are genetically inherited and appear in early fetal life and remain unchanged till death [1]. The ABO and Rhesus (Rh D) blood groups are the most important blood groups among the long list of several other blood groups discovered so far. Landsteiner in 1901 discovered the first human blood group system that is the ABO blood group system [2]. Later, Landsteiner and Wiener discovered the Rh blood group in 1940 [3]. The ABO and Rh D blood group varies worldwide and are not found in equal numbers even among ethnic groups. The ABO blood group system is of four major types, based on the presence or absence of A and B surface antigens. Medically the