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The genetic landscape of Mediterranean North African populations through complete mtDNA sequences
Neus Font-Porterias1, Neus Solé-Morata1, Gerard Serra-Vidal1
1a Departament de Ciències Experimentals i de la Salut, Institute of Evolutionary Biology (CSIC-UPF) , Universitat Pompeu Fabra , Barcelona , Spain.
Background:
The genetic composition of human North African populations is an amalgam of different ancestral components coming from the Middle East, Europe, south-Saharan Africa and autochthonous to North Africa. This complex genetic pattern is the result of migrations and admixtures in the region since Palaeolithic times.
Aims:
The objective of the present study is to refine knowledge of the population history of North African populations through the analysis of complete mitochondrial sequences.
Subjects And Methods:
This study has sequenced complete mitochondrial DNAs (mtDNAs) in several North African and neighbouring individuals.
Results:
The mtDNA haplogroup classification and phylogeny shows a high genetic diversity in the region as a result of continuous admixture. The phylogenetic analysis allowed us to identify a new haplogroup characterised by positions 10 101 C and 146 C (H1v2), a sub-branch of H1v, which is restricted to North Africa and whose origins are estimated as ∼4000 years ago.
Conclusions:
The analysis of the complete mtDNA genome has allowed for the identification of a North African sub-lineage that might be ignored by the analysis of partial mtDNA control region sequences, highlighting the phylogeographic relevance of mtDNA complete sequence analysis.
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