by in a single amino acid at position 42: glycine in Fy-a and aspartic acid in Fy-b (guanine in Fy-a and adenosine in Fy-b at position 125). A second mutation causing a Duffy negative phenotype is known: the responsible mutation is G -> A at position 298. The genetic basis for the Fy(a-b-) phenotype is a point mutation in the erythroid specific promoter (a T -> C mutation at position -33 in the GATA box). This mutation occurs in the Fy-b allele and has been designated Fy-bEs (erythroid silent). Two isotypes have been identified. The Fy-x allele is characterized by a weak anti-Fy-b reaction and appears to be the result of two separate transitions: Cytosine265Threonine (Arginine89Cysteine) and Guanine298Adenosine (Alanine100Threonine). A third mutation (a transversion) in this gene has also been described - G145T (Alanine49Serine) - that has been associated with the Fy-x phenotype. Most Duffy negative blacks carry a silent Fy-b allele with a single T to C substitution at nucleotide -33, impairing the promoter activity in erythroid cells by disrupting a binding site for the GATA1 erythroid transcription factor. The gene is still transcribed in non erythroid cells in the presence of this mutation. The Duffy negative phenotype occurs at low frequency among whites (~3.5%) and is due to a third mutation that results in an unstable protein (Arg89Cys: cytosine -> thymidine at position 265). The silent allele has evolved at least twice in the black population of Africa and evidence for selection for this allele has been found. The selection pressure involved here appears to be more complex than many text books might suggest. An independent evolution of this phenotype occurred in Papua New Guinea has also been documented. A comparative study of this gene in seven mammalian species revealed significant differences between species. The species examined included Pan troglodytes (chimpanzee), Macaca mulatta (rhesus monkey), Pongo pygmaeus (orangutan), Rattus norvegicus (brown rat), Mus musculus (mouse), Monodelphis domestica (opossum), Bos taurus (cow) and Canis familiaris (dog). Three exons are present in humans and chimpanzees, whereas only two exons occur in the other species. This additional exon is located at the 5' end and is entirely non coding. Both intron and exon size vary considerably between the species examined. Between the chimpanzee and the human, 24 differences in the nucleotide sequence were noted. Of these 18 occurred in non coding regions. Of the remaining 6, 3 were synonymous and 3