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Publication Details
AFRICAN RESEARCH NEXUS
SHINING A SPOTLIGHT ON AFRICAN RESEARCH
biochemistry, genetics and molecular biology
The Dawn of Human Matrilineal Diversity
American Journal of Human Genetics, Volume 82, No. 5, Year 2008
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Description
The quest to explain demographic history during the early part of human evolution has been limited because of the scarce paleoanthropological record from the Middle Stone Age. To shed light on the structure of the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) phylogeny at the dawn of Homo sapiens, we constructed a matrilineal tree composed of 624 complete mtDNA genomes from sub-Saharan Hg L lineages. We paid particular attention to the Khoi and San (Khoisan) people of South Africa because they are considered to be a unique relic of hunter-gatherer lifestyle and to carry paternal and maternal lineages belonging to the deepest clades known among modern humans. Both the tree phylogeny and coalescence calculations suggest that Khoisan matrilineal ancestry diverged from the rest of the human mtDNA pool 90,000-150,000 years before present (ybp) and that at least five additional, currently extant maternal lineages existed during this period in parallel. Furthermore, we estimate that a minimum of 40 other evolutionarily successful lineages flourished in sub-Saharan Africa during the period of modern human dispersal out of Africa approximately 60,000-70,000 ybp. Only much later, at the beginning of the Late Stone Age, about 40,000 ybp, did introgression of additional lineages occur into the Khoisan mtDNA pool. This process was further accelerated during the recent Bantu expansions. Our results suggest that the early settlement of humans in Africa was already matrilineally structured and involved small, separately evolving isolated populations. © 2008 The American Society of Human Genetics.
Available Materials
https://efashare.b-cdn.net/share/pmc/articles/PMC2427203/bin/mmc1.xls
https://efashare.b-cdn.net/share/pmc/articles/PMC2427203/bin/mmc2.xls
Authors & Co-Authors
Behar, Doron M.
Israel, Haifa
Molecular Medicine Laboratory
Villems, Richard
Estonia, Tartu
Tartu Ülikool
Soodyall, Himla
South Africa, Johannesburg
National Health Laboratory Service
Blue-Smith, Jason
United States, Washington, D.c.
National Geographic Society
Pereira, Luísa
Portugal, Porto
Universidade do Porto
Portugal, Porto
Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade do Porto Fmup
Metspalu, Ene
Estonia, Tartu
Tartu Ülikool
Scozzari, Rosaria
Italy, Rome
Sapienza Università Di Roma
Makkan, Heeran
South Africa, Johannesburg
National Health Laboratory Service
Tzur, Shay
Israel, Haifa
Molecular Medicine Laboratory
Comas, D.
Spain, Barcelona
Universitat Pompeu Fabra Barcelona
Bertranpetit, Jaume
Spain, Barcelona
Universitat Pompeu Fabra Barcelona
Quintana-Murci, Lluís
France, Paris
Institut Pasteur, Paris
Tyler-Smith, Chris
United Kingdom, London
Wellcome Trust
Wells, R. Spencer
United States, Washington, D.c.
National Geographic Society
Rosset, Saharon
United States, Yorktown Heights
Ibm Thomas J. Watson Research Center
Israel, Tel Aviv-yafo
Tel Aviv University
Statistics
Citations: 431
Authors: 15
Affiliations: 12
Identifiers
Doi:
10.1016/j.ajhg.2008.04.002
ISSN:
00029297
Research Areas
Genetics And Genomics
Maternal And Child Health
Study Locations
South Africa