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Bravi CM, Motti JMB, García A. Letter to the editor: A Southern Cone origin rather than Peruvian affinities for ancient Patagonian B2 mitogenomes. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF BIOLOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2024:e24934. [PMID: 38577959 DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.24934] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/23/2023] [Revised: 01/09/2024] [Accepted: 01/17/2024] [Indexed: 04/06/2024]
Affiliation(s)
- Claudio M Bravi
- Laboratorio de Genética Molecular Poblacional, Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Celular (IMBICE), CCT La Plata CONICET-CICPBA-Universidad Nacional de La Plata, 1900 La Plata, Argentina
| | - Josefina M B Motti
- Laboratorio de Ecología Evolutiva Humana, Facultad de Ciencias Sociales, Universidad Nacional del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. CONICET, CCT- Tandil, 7631 Quequén, Argentina
| | - Angelina García
- Instituto de Antropología de Córdoba, CONICET, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Córdoba, Argentina
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2
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Arango-Isaza E, Capodiferro MR, Aninao MJ, Babiker H, Aeschbacher S, Achilli A, Posth C, Campbell R, Martínez FI, Heggarty P, Sadowsky S, Shimizu KK, Barbieri C. The genetic history of the Southern Andes from present-day Mapuche ancestry. Curr Biol 2023:S0960-9822(23)00607-3. [PMID: 37279753 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2023.05.013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/03/2022] [Revised: 03/01/2023] [Accepted: 05/05/2023] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
The southernmost regions of South America harbor some of the earliest evidence of human presence in the Americas. However, connections with the rest of the continent and the contextualization of present-day indigenous ancestries remain poorly resolved. In this study, we analyze the genetic ancestry of one of the largest indigenous groups in South America: the Mapuche. We generate genome-wide data from 64 participants from three Mapuche populations in Southern Chile: Pehuenche, Lafkenche, and Huilliche. Broadly, we describe three main ancestry blocks with a common origin, which characterize the Southern Cone, the Central Andes, and Amazonia. Within the Southern Cone, ancestors of the Mapuche lineages differentiated from those of the Far South during the Middle Holocene and did not experience further migration waves from the north. We find that the deep genetic split between the Central and Southern Andes is followed by instances of gene flow, which may have accompanied the southward spread of cultural traits from the Central Andes, including crops and loanwords from Quechua into Mapudungun (the language of the Mapuche). Finally, we report close genetic relatedness between the three populations analyzed, with the Huilliche characterized additionally by intense recent exchanges with the Far South. Our findings add new perspectives on the genetic (pre)history of South America, from the first settlement through to the present-day indigenous presence. Follow-up fieldwork took these results back to the indigenous communities to contextualize the genetic narrative alongside indigenous knowledge and perspectives.
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Affiliation(s)
- Epifanía Arango-Isaza
- Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zurich, Zurich 8057, Switzerland; Center for the Interdisciplinary Study of Language Evolution, University of Zurich, Zurich 8050, Switzerland.
| | - Marco Rosario Capodiferro
- Trinity College Dublin, Dublin 2, Ireland; Department of Biology and Biotechnology "L. Spallanzani", University of Pavia, Pavia 27100, Italy
| | | | - Hiba Babiker
- Department of Linguistic and Cultural Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig 04103, Germany
| | - Simon Aeschbacher
- Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zurich, Zurich 8057, Switzerland
| | - Alessandro Achilli
- Department of Biology and Biotechnology "L. Spallanzani", University of Pavia, Pavia 27100, Italy
| | - Cosimo Posth
- Institute for Archaeological Sciences, Archaeo, and Palaeogenetics, University of Tübingen, Tübingen 72074, Germany; Senckenberg Centre for Human Evolution and Palaeoenvironment, University of Tübingen, Tübingen 72074, Germany
| | - Roberto Campbell
- Escuela de Antropología, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago 6904411, Chile
| | - Felipe I Martínez
- Escuela de Antropología, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago 6904411, Chile; Center for Intercultural and Indigenous Research, Santiago 7820436, Chile
| | - Paul Heggarty
- "Waves" ERC Group, Department of Human Behavior, Evolution and Culture, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig 04103, Germany
| | - Scott Sadowsky
- Department of Linguistics and Literature, Universidad de Cartagena, Cartagena 130001, Colombia
| | - Kentaro K Shimizu
- Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zurich, Zurich 8057, Switzerland; Center for the Interdisciplinary Study of Language Evolution, University of Zurich, Zurich 8050, Switzerland
| | - Chiara Barbieri
- Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zurich, Zurich 8057, Switzerland; Center for the Interdisciplinary Study of Language Evolution, University of Zurich, Zurich 8050, Switzerland; Department of Linguistic and Cultural Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig 04103, Germany.
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3
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Villa-Islas V, Izarraras-Gomez A, Larena M, Campos EMP, Sandoval-Velasco M, Rodríguez-Rodríguez JE, Bravo-Lopez M, Moguel B, Fregel R, Garfias-Morales E, Medina Tretmanis J, Velázquez-Ramírez DA, Herrera-Muñóz A, Sandoval K, Nieves-Colón MA, Zepeda García Moreno G, Villanea FA, Medina EFV, Aguayo-Haro R, Valdiosera C, Ioannidis AG, Moreno-Estrada A, Jay F, Huerta-Sanchez E, Moreno-Mayar JV, Sánchez-Quinto F, Ávila-Arcos MC. Demographic history and genetic structure in pre-Hispanic Central Mexico. Science 2023; 380:eadd6142. [PMID: 37167382 DOI: 10.1126/science.add6142] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/13/2023]
Abstract
Aridoamerica and Mesoamerica are two distinct cultural areas in northern and central Mexico, respectively, that hosted numerous pre-Hispanic civilizations between 2500 BCE and 1521 CE. The division between these regions shifted southward because of severe droughts ~1100 years ago, which allegedly drove a population replacement in central Mexico by Aridoamerican peoples. In this study, we present shotgun genome-wide data from 12 individuals and 27 mitochondrial genomes from eight pre-Hispanic archaeological sites across Mexico, including two at the shifting border of Aridoamerica and Mesoamerica. We find population continuity that spans the climate change episode and a broad preservation of the genetic structure across present-day Mexico for the past 2300 years. Lastly, we identify a contribution to pre-Hispanic populations of northern and central Mexico from two ancient unsampled "ghost" populations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Viridiana Villa-Islas
- International Laboratory for Human Genome Research, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), Querétaro, México
| | - Alan Izarraras-Gomez
- International Laboratory for Human Genome Research, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), Querétaro, México
| | - Maximilian Larena
- Department of Organismal Biology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | | | - Marcela Sandoval-Velasco
- Section for Evolutionary Genomics, GLOBE Institute, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
- Department of Anthropology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 20560, USA
- Departamento de Ecología Evolutiva, Instituto de Ecología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Cuidad de México, Mexico
| | | | - Miriam Bravo-Lopez
- International Laboratory for Human Genome Research, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), Querétaro, México
| | - Barbara Moguel
- International Laboratory for Human Genome Research, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), Querétaro, México
- Centro de Geociencias, UNAM Juriquilla, Juriquilla, Querétaro, México
| | - Rosa Fregel
- Department of Biochemistry, Microbiology, Cell Biology and Genetics, Universidad de La Laguna, San Cristóbal de La Laguna, Spain
| | - Ernesto Garfias-Morales
- International Laboratory for Human Genome Research, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), Querétaro, México
| | | | | | | | - Karla Sandoval
- Equity and Gender Office of the Centre for Research and Advanced Studies (CODIGO-C), CINVESTAV, Mexico City, Mexico
| | - Maria A Nieves-Colón
- Unit of Advanced Genomics, National Laboratory of Genomics for Biodiversity (LANGEBIO), CINVESTAV, Irapuato, Guanajuato, Mexico
- Department of Anthropology, University of Minnesota Twin Cities, Minneapolis, MN, USA
| | | | - Fernando A Villanea
- Department of Anthropology, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO, USA
| | | | | | - Cristina Valdiosera
- Departamento de Historia, Geografía y Comunicaciones, Universidad de Burgos, Burgos, Spain
- Department of History and Archaeology, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia
| | - Alexander G Ioannidis
- Institute for Computational and Mathematical Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Andrés Moreno-Estrada
- Unit of Advanced Genomics, National Laboratory of Genomics for Biodiversity (LANGEBIO), CINVESTAV, Irapuato, Guanajuato, Mexico
| | - Flora Jay
- Laboratoire Interdisciplinaire des Sciences du Numérique, Université Paris-Saclay, CNRS, INRIA, 91400 Orsay, France
| | | | - J Víctor Moreno-Mayar
- Lundbeck Foundation GeoGenetics Centre, GLOBE Institute, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | | | - María C Ávila-Arcos
- International Laboratory for Human Genome Research, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), Querétaro, México
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4
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Aquilano E, de la Fuente C, Rodríguez Golpe D, Motti JMB, Bravi CM. Sequencing errors in Native American mitogenomes: impact on clade definitions, haplogroup assignation, and beyond. Mitochondrion 2023; 70:54-58. [PMID: 37003527 DOI: 10.1016/j.mito.2023.03.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/06/2022] [Revised: 03/09/2023] [Accepted: 03/22/2023] [Indexed: 04/03/2023]
Abstract
Available evidence allows the interpretation that some cases of absence of otherwise expected variation, based on phylogenetic expectations in mitogenomes of Native American origin, are due to artificial recombination rather than to homoplasy, while other more complex scenarios involving combination of original Cambridge Reference Sequence mistakes plus incomplete or incorrect scoring of variation are also showed. Several instances of mismatched control and coding regions as well as partially duplicated HV2 are observed in Peruvians, while intra-haplogroup chimaeras of different D1 subhaplogroups are referred to in Mexican Native Americans. A revised definition for haplogroup B2h is proposed, and preventive quality control measures are suggested.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eliana Aquilano
- Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Celular (IMBICE), CCT La Plata CONICET-CICPBA-Universidad Nacional de La Plata, Calle 526 e/ 10 y 11, 1900 La Plata, Argentina
| | | | - Daniela Rodríguez Golpe
- Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Celular (IMBICE), CCT La Plata CONICET-CICPBA-Universidad Nacional de La Plata, Calle 526 e/ 10 y 11, 1900 La Plata, Argentina
| | - Josefina M B Motti
- Laboratorio de Ecología Evolutiva Humana (LEEH), Facultad de Ciencias Sociales (FACSO), Universidad Nacional del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires-CONICET, Calle 508 #881, 7631 Quequén, Argentina
| | - Claudio M Bravi
- Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Celular (IMBICE), CCT La Plata CONICET-CICPBA-Universidad Nacional de La Plata, Calle 526 e/ 10 y 11, 1900 La Plata, Argentina.
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Motti JMB, Pauro M, Scabuzzo C, García A, Aldazábal V, Vecchi R, Bayón C, Pastor N, Demarchi DA, Bravi CM, Reich D, Cabana GS, Nores R. Ancient mitogenomes from the Southern Pampas of Argentina reflect local differentiation and limited extra-regional linkages after rapid initial colonization. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF BIOLOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2023; 181:216-230. [PMID: 36919783 DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.24727] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/04/2022] [Revised: 02/13/2023] [Accepted: 02/22/2023] [Indexed: 03/16/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE This study aims to contribute to the recovery of Indigenous evolutionary history in the Southern Pampas region of Argentina through an analysis of ancient complete mitochondrial genomes. MATERIALS AND METHODS We generated DNA data for nine complete mitogenomes from the Southern Pampas, dated to between 2531 and 723 cal BP. In combination with previously published ancient mitogenomes from the region and from throughout South America, we documented instances of extra-regional lineage-sharing, and estimated coalescent ages for local lineages using a Bayesian method with tip calibrations in a phylogenetic analysis. RESULTS We identified a novel mitochondrial haplogroup, B2b16, and two recently defined haplogroups, A2ay and B2ak1, as well as three local haplotypes within founder haplogroups C1b and C1d. We detected lineage-sharing with ancient and contemporary individuals from Central Argentina, but not with ancient or contemporary samples from North Patagonian or Littoral regions of Argentina, despite archeological evidence of cultural interactions with the latter regions. The estimated coalescent age of these shared lineages is ~10,000 years BP. DISCUSSION The history of the human populations in the Southern Pampas is temporally deep, exhibiting long-term continuity of mitogenome lineages. Additionally, the identification of highly localized mtDNA clades accords with a model of relatively rapid initial colonization of South America by Indigenous communities, followed by more local patterns of limited gene flow and genetic drift in various South American regions, including the Pampas.
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Affiliation(s)
- Josefina M B Motti
- Laboratorio de Ecología Evolutiva Humana, Facultad de Ciencias Sociales, Universidad Nacional del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Quequén, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Maia Pauro
- Instituto de Antropología de Córdoba, CONICET, Córdoba, Argentina
| | - Clara Scabuzzo
- Centro de Investigación Científica y de Transferencia a la Producción (CICyTTP)-CONICET, Provincia de Entre Ríos-Universidad Autónoma de Entre Ríos (UADER)-División Arqueología, Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, Diamante, Entre Ríos, Argentina
| | - Angelina García
- Instituto de Antropología de Córdoba, CONICET, Córdoba, Argentina.,Facultad de Filosofía y Humanidades, Museo de Antropología, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Córdoba, Argentina
| | - Verónica Aldazábal
- Instituto Multidisciplinario de Historia y Ciencias Humanas, CONICET, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Rodrigo Vecchi
- Departamento de Humanidades, Universidad Nacional del Sur, CONICET, Bahía Blanca, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Cristina Bayón
- Departamento de Humanidades, Universidad Nacional del Sur, CONICET, Bahía Blanca, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Nicolás Pastor
- Instituto de Antropología de Córdoba, CONICET, Córdoba, Argentina
| | - Darío A Demarchi
- Instituto de Antropología de Córdoba, CONICET, Córdoba, Argentina.,Facultad de Filosofía y Humanidades, Museo de Antropología, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Córdoba, Argentina
| | - Claudio M Bravi
- Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Celular, Centro Científico Tecnológica (CCT) La Plata CONICET, Comisión de Investigaciones Científicas de la Provincia de Buenos Aires (CICPBA), Universidad Nacional de La Plata, La Plata, Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - David Reich
- Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.,Department of Human Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.,Broad Institute, Harvard and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.,Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Graciela S Cabana
- Molecular Anthropology Laboratories, Department of Anthropology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee, USA
| | - Rodrigo Nores
- Instituto de Antropología de Córdoba, CONICET, Córdoba, Argentina.,Facultad de Filosofía y Humanidades, Museo de Antropología, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Córdoba, Argentina
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6
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Vilà-Valls L, Aizpurua-Iraola J, Casinge S, Bojs K, Flores-Bello A, Font-Porterias N, Comas D. Genomic Insights into the Population History of the Resande or Swedish Travelers. Genome Biol Evol 2023; 15:6991919. [PMID: 36655389 PMCID: PMC9907538 DOI: 10.1093/gbe/evad006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/23/2022] [Revised: 12/29/2022] [Accepted: 01/09/2023] [Indexed: 01/20/2023] Open
Abstract
The Resande are a minority ethnic group in Sweden, who were characterized by an itinerant way of life, and they have been suggested to originate from the mixture between Swedish and Romani populations. Because the population history of the Resande has been scarcely studied, we analyzed genome-wide genotype array data from unrelated Resande individuals in order to shed light on their origins and demographic history for the first time from a genetic perspective. Our results confirm the Romani-related ancestry of this population and suggest an admixture event between a Romani-like population and a general Swedish-like population that occurred approximately between the mid-18th and mid-19th centuries, two centuries after the arrival of the first historically reported Romani families in Sweden. This inferred date suggests that the Romani group involved in the admixture is related to the pre-18th-century arrivals of Romani in Scandinavia. In addition, a reduction in the population size is detected previous to the admixture event, suggesting a subtle signal of isolation. The present work constitutes a step forward toward a better representation of ethnic minorities and underrepresented groups in population genetic analyses. In order to know in more detail the complete history of human populations, it is time to focus on studying populations that have not been previously considered for a general scenario and that can provide valuable information to fill in the gaps that still remain uncovered.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura Vilà-Valls
- Institute of Evolutionary Biology (UPF-CSIC), Department of Medicine and Life Sciences, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Julen Aizpurua-Iraola
- Institute of Evolutionary Biology (UPF-CSIC), Department of Medicine and Life Sciences, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain
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7
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Nores R, Tavella MP, Fabra M, Demarchi DA. Ancient DNA analysis reveals temporal and geographical patterns of mitochondrial diversity in pre-Hispanic populations from Central Argentina. Am J Hum Biol 2022; 34:e23733. [PMID: 35238427 DOI: 10.1002/ajhb.23733] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/25/2021] [Revised: 02/03/2022] [Accepted: 02/08/2022] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVES The study of the ancient populations of Central Argentina has a crucial importance for our understanding of the evolutionary processes in the Southern Cone of South America, given its geographic position as a crossroads. Therefore, the aim of this study is to evaluate the temporal and geographical patterns of genetic variation among the groups that inhabited the current territory of Córdoba Province during the Middle and Late Holocene. METHODS We analyzed the mitochondrial haplogroups of 74 individuals and 46 Hypervariable Region I (HVR-I) sequences, both novel and previously reported, from archeological populations of the eastern Plains and western Sierras regions of the province of Córdoba. The HVR-I sequences were also compared with other ancient groups from Argentina and with present-day populations from Central Argentina by pairwise distance analysis and identification of shared haplotypes. RESULTS Significant differences in haplogroup and haplotype distributions between the two geographical regions were found. Sierras showed genetic affinities with certain ancient populations of Northwestern Argentina, while Plains resembled its neighbors from Santiago del Estero Province and the Pampas region. We did not observe genetic differences among the pre 1200 and post 1200 yBP temporal subsets of individuals defined by the emergence of horticulture, considering both geographical samples jointly. CONCLUSIONS The observed patterns of geographical heterogeneity could indicate the existence of biologically distinct populations inhabiting the mountainous region and the eastern plains of Córdoba Province in pre-Hispanic times. Maternal lineages analyses support a scenario of local evolution with great temporal depth in Central Argentina, with continuity until the present.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rodrigo Nores
- Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Facultad de Filosofía y Humanidades, Departamento de Antropología, Córdoba, Argentina.,CONICET, Instituto de Antropología de Córdoba (IDACOR), Córdoba, Argentina
| | - María Pía Tavella
- Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Facultad de Filosofía y Humanidades, Departamento de Antropología, Córdoba, Argentina.,CONICET, Instituto de Antropología de Córdoba (IDACOR), Córdoba, Argentina
| | - Mariana Fabra
- Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Facultad de Filosofía y Humanidades, Departamento de Antropología, Córdoba, Argentina.,CONICET, Instituto de Antropología de Córdoba (IDACOR), Córdoba, Argentina
| | - Darío A Demarchi
- Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Facultad de Filosofía y Humanidades, Departamento de Antropología, Córdoba, Argentina.,CONICET, Instituto de Antropología de Córdoba (IDACOR), Córdoba, Argentina
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Flores-Bello A, Font-Porterias N, Aizpurua-Iraola J, Duarri-Redondo S, Comas D. The genetic scenario of Mercheros: an under-represented group within the Iberian Peninsula. BMC Genomics 2021; 22:897. [PMID: 34911433 PMCID: PMC8672588 DOI: 10.1186/s12864-021-08203-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/19/2021] [Accepted: 11/18/2021] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The general picture of human genetic variation has been vastly depicted in the last years, yet many populations remain broadly understudied. In this work, we analyze for the first time the Merchero population, a Spanish minority ethnic group that has been scarcely studied and historically persecuted. Mercheros have been roughly characterised by an itinerant history, common traditional occupations, and the usage of their own language. RESULTS Here, we examine the demographic history and genetic scenario of Mercheros, by using genome-wide array data, whole mitochondrial sequences, and Y chromosome STR markers from 25 individuals. These samples have been complemented with a wide-range of present-day populations from Western Eurasia and North Africa. Our results show that the genetic diversity of Mercheros is explained within the context of the Iberian Peninsula, evidencing a modest signal of Roma admixture. In addition, Mercheros present low genetic isolation and intrapopulation heterogeneity. CONCLUSIONS This study represents the first genetic characterisation of the Merchero population, depicting their fine-scale ancestry components and genetic scenario within the Iberian Peninsula. Since ethnicity is not only influenced by genetic ancestry but also cultural factors, other studies from multiple disciplines are needed to further explore the Merchero population. As with Mercheros, there is a considerable gap of underrepresented populations and ethnic groups in publicly available genetic data. Thus, we encourage the consideration of more ethnically diverse population panels in human genetic studies, as an attempt to improve the representation of human populations and better reconstruct their fine-scale history.
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Affiliation(s)
- André Flores-Bello
- Departament de Ciències de la Salut i de la Vida, Institut de Biologia Evolutiva (CSIC-UPF), Universitat Pompeu Fabra, 08003, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Neus Font-Porterias
- Departament de Ciències de la Salut i de la Vida, Institut de Biologia Evolutiva (CSIC-UPF), Universitat Pompeu Fabra, 08003, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Julen Aizpurua-Iraola
- Departament de Ciències de la Salut i de la Vida, Institut de Biologia Evolutiva (CSIC-UPF), Universitat Pompeu Fabra, 08003, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Sara Duarri-Redondo
- Departament de Ciències de la Salut i de la Vida, Institut de Biologia Evolutiva (CSIC-UPF), Universitat Pompeu Fabra, 08003, Barcelona, Spain
| | - David Comas
- Departament de Ciències de la Salut i de la Vida, Institut de Biologia Evolutiva (CSIC-UPF), Universitat Pompeu Fabra, 08003, Barcelona, Spain.
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