Divergent haplotypes and human history as revealed in a worldwide survey of X-linked DNA sequence variation

Signatures of human European Palaeolithic expansion shown by resequencing of non-recombining X-chromosome segments

Human genetic diversity in Europe has been extensively studied using uniparentally inherited sequences (mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and the Y chromosome), which reveal very different patterns indicating sex-specific demographic histories. The X chromosome, haploid in males and inherited twice as often from mothers as from fathers, could provide insights into past female behaviours, but has not been extensively investigated. Here, we use HapMap single-nucleotide polymorphism data to identify genome-wide segments of the X chromosome in which recombination is historically absent and mutations are likely to be the only source of genetic variation, referring to these as phylogeographically informative haplotypes on autosomes and X chromosome (PHAXs). Three such sequences on the X chromosome spanning a total of ~49 kb were resequenced in 240 males from Europe, the Middle East and Africa at an average coverage of 181 ×. These PHAXs were confirmed to be essentially non-recombining across European samples. All three loci show highly homogeneous patterns across Europe and are highly differentiated from the African sample. Star-like structures of European-specific haplotypes in median-joining networks indicate past population expansions. Bayesian skyline plots and time-to-most-recent-common-ancestor estimates suggest expansions pre-dating the Neolithic transition, a finding that is more compatible with data on mtDNA than the Y chromosome, and with the female bias of X-chromosomal inheritance. This study demonstrates the potential of the use of X-chromosomal haplotype blocks, and the utility of the accurate ascertainment of rare variants for inferring human demographic history.

Food and pathogen adaptations in the Angolan Namib desert: Tracing the spread of lactase persistence and human African trypanosomiasis resistance into southwestern Africa

OBJECTIVES

We investigated the frequency distribution and haplotype diversity of human African trypanosomiasis (HAT) resistance and lactase persistence (LP) variants in populations from the Angolan Namib to trace the spread of these genetic adaptations into southwestern Africa.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

We resequenced two fragments of the LCT enhancer and the APOL1 gene and genotyped flanking short tandem repeat loci in six groups with different subsistence traditions living in the Angolan Namib, and in a comparative dataset including other populations from Africa and Europe. LP in the Angolan Namib is represented by the -14010*C allele, which is associated with a predominant haplotype that is shared with other southern and eastern African populations. While LP was found to be more frequent in foragers than in pastoralists, the frequencies of the two APOL1 variants associated with HAT-resistance (G1 and G2) did not differ between the two groups. The G1 allele is mostly associated with a single widespread haplotype. The G2 allele is linked to several haplotypes that are molecularly related to haplotypes found in other African Bantu-speaking populations. The putatively archaic G3 variant displayed more intra-allelic diversity in Africa than in Europe.

DISCUSSION

The LP adaptation was carried to southern Africa by non-Bantu speaking pastoralists from eastern Africa, but an obvious link between its presence in southern Angola and groups speaking languages of the Khoe-Kwadi family, as previously found in other areas, could not be confirmed. The presence of APOL1 variants G1 and G2 is linked to the Bantu expansions. Our results suggest that the G3 variant was retained in modern humans by incomplete lineage sorting.

X-linked MTMR8 diversity and evolutionary history of sub-Saharan populations

The genetic diversity within an 11 kb segment of the MTMR8 gene in a sample of 111 sub-Saharan and 49 non-African X chromosomes was investigated to assess the early evolutionary history of sub-Saharan Africans and the out-of-Africa expansion. The analyses revealed a complex genetic structure of the Africans that contributed to the emergence of modern humans. We observed partitioning of two thirds of old lineages among southern, west/central and east African populations indicating ancient population stratification predating the out of Africa migration. Age estimates of these lineages, older than coalescence times of uniparentally inherited markers, raise the question whether contemporary humans originated from a single population or as an amalgamation of different populations separated by years of independent evolution, thus suggesting a greater antiquity of our species than generally assumed. While the oldest sub-Saharan lineages, ∼500 thousand years, are found among Khoe-San from southern-Africa, a distinct haplotype found among Biaka is likely due to admixture from an even older population. An East African population that gave rise to non-Africans underwent a selective sweep affecting the subcentromeric region where MTMR8 is located. This and similar sweeps in four other regions of the X chromosome, documented in the literature, effectively reduced genetic diversity of non-African chromosomes and therefore may have exacerbated the effect of the demographic bottleneck usually ascribed to the out of Africa migration. Our data is suggestive, however, that a bottleneck, occurred in Africa before range expansion.

Evolutionary history and adaptation from high-coverage whole-genome sequences of diverse African hunter-gatherers

To reconstruct modern human evolutionary history and identify loci that have shaped hunter-gatherer adaptation, we sequenced the whole genomes of five individuals in each of three different hunter-gatherer populations at > 60× coverage: Pygmies from Cameroon and Khoesan-speaking Hadza and Sandawe from Tanzania. We identify 13.4 million variants, substantially increasing the set of known human variation. We found evidence of archaic introgression in all three populations, and the distribution of time to most recent common ancestors from these regions is similar to that observed for introgressed regions in Europeans. Additionally, we identify numerous loci that harbor signatures of local adaptation, including genes involved in immunity, metabolism, olfactory and taste perception, reproduction, and wound healing. Within the Pygmy population, we identify multiple highly differentiated loci that play a role in growth and anterior pituitary function and are associated with height.

The evolution of human genetic and phenotypic variation in Africa

Africa is the birthplace of modern humans, and is the source of the geographic expansion of ancestral populations into other regions of the world. Indigenous Africans are characterized by high levels of genetic diversity within and between populations. The pattern of genetic variation in these populations has been shaped by demographic events occurring over the last 200,000 years. The dramatic variation in climate, diet, and exposure to infectious disease across the continent has also resulted in novel genetic and phenotypic adaptations in extant Africans. This review summarizes some recent advances in our understanding of the demographic history and selective pressures that have influenced levels and patterns of diversity in African populations.

Genetic structure in African populations: implications for human demographic history

The continent of Africa is the source of all anatomically modern humans that dispersed across the planet during the past 100,000 years. As such, African populations are characterized by high genetic diversity and low levels of linkage disequilibrium (LD) among loci, as compared to populations from other continents. African populations also possess a number of genetic adaptations that have evolved in response to the diverse climates, diets, geographic environments, and infectious agents that characterize the African continent. Recently, Tishkoff et al. (2009) performed a genome-wide analysis of substructure based on DNA from 2432 Africans from 121 geographically diverse populations. The authors analyzed patterns of variation at 1327 nuclear microsatellite and insertion/deletion markers and identified 14 ancestral population clusters that correlate well with self-described ethnicity and shared cultural or linguistic properties. The results suggest that African populations may have maintained a large and subdivided population structure throughout much of their evolutionary history. In this chapter, we synthesize recent work documenting evidence of African population structure and discuss the implications for inferences about evolutionary history in both African populations and anatomically modern humans as a whole.

African genetic diversity: implications for human demographic history, modern human origins, and complex disease mapping

Comparative studies of ethnically diverse human populations, particularly in Africa, are important for reconstructing human evolutionary history and for understanding the genetic basis of phenotypic adaptation and complex disease. African populations are characterized by greater levels of genetic diversity, extensive population substructure, and less linkage disequilibrium (LD) among loci compared to non-African populations. Africans also possess a number of genetic adaptations that have evolved in response to diverse climates and diets, as well as exposure to infectious disease. This review summarizes patterns and the evolutionary origins of genetic diversity present in African populations, as well as their implications for the mapping of complex traits, including disease susceptibility.

Testing for archaic hominin admixture on the X chromosome: model likelihoods for the modern human RRM2P4 region from summaries of genealogical topology under the structured coalescent

A 2.4-kb stretch within the RRM2P4 region of the X chromosome, previously sequenced in a sample of 41 globally distributed humans, displayed both an ancient time to the most recent common ancestor (e.g., a TMRCA of approximately 2 million years) and a basal clade composed entirely of Asian sequences. This pattern was interpreted to reflect a history of introgressive hybridization from archaic hominins (most likely Asian Homo erectus) into the anatomically modern human genome. Here, we address this hypothesis by resequencing the 2.4-kb RRM2P4 region in 131 African and 122 non-African individuals and by extending the length of sequence in a window of 16.5 kb encompassing the RRM2P4 pseudogene in a subset of 90 individuals. We find that both the ancient TMRCA and the skew in non-African representation in one of the basal clades are essentially limited to the central 2.4-kb region. We define a new summary statistic called the minimum clade proportion (pmc), which quantifies the proportion of individuals from a specified geographic region in each of the two basal clades of a binary gene tree, and then employ coalescent simulations to assess the likelihood of the observed central RRM2P4 genealogy under two alternative views of human evolutionary history: recent African replacement (RAR) and archaic admixture (AA). A molecular-clock-based TMRCA estimate of 2.33 million years is a statistical outlier under the RAR model; however, the large variance associated with this estimate makes it difficult to distinguish the predictions of the human origins models tested here. The pmc summary statistic, which has improved power with larger samples of chromosomes, yields values that are significantly unlikely under the RAR model and fit expectations better under a range of archaic admixture scenarios.

Tracing genetic history of modern humans using X-chromosome lineages

Genetic variability of the compound interrupted microsatellite DXS1238, in intron 44 of the dystrophin gene, provides evidence for a complex structure of the ancestral population that led to the emergence of modern humans. We sequenced DXS1238 in 600 X-chromosomes from all over the world. Forty four percent of African-specific chromosomes belong to the ancestral lineage that did not participate in the out-of-Africa expansion and subsequent colonization of other continents. Based on the coalescence analysis these lineages separated from those that contributed to the out-of-Africa expansion 366 +/- 136 thousands years ago (Kya). Independently, the analysis of the variance in the repeat length and of the decay of the ancestral alleles of the two DXS1238 repeats, GT and GA, dates this separation at more than 200 Kya. This suggests a complex demographic history and genetic structure of the African melting pot that led to the emergence of modern humans and their out-of-Africa migration. The subsequent subdivisions of human populations among different continents appear to be preceded by even more structured population history within Africa itself, which resulted from a restricted gene flow between lineages allowing for genetic differences to accumulate. If the transition to modern humans occurred during that time, it necessarily follows that genes associated with this transformation spread between subpopulations via gene flow. Otherwise, in spite of subsequent anatomical variation, Homo sapiens as a species could have emerged in Africa already between 300 and 200 Kya, i.e. before the mitochondrial DNA and well before the Y-chromosome most recent common ancestors.