ORCID Profile
0000-0001-9088-1750
Current Organisation
Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais
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Publisher: Wiley
Date: 23-11-2011
DOI: 10.1111/J.1469-1809.2011.00690.X
Abstract: The eastern Himalayas are located near the southern entrance through which early modern humans expanded into East Asia. The genetic structure in this region is therefore of great importance in the study of East Asian origins. However, few genetic studies have been performed on the Sino-Tibetan populations (Luoba and Deng) in this region. Here, we analyzed the Y-chromosome ersity of the two populations. The Luoba possessed haplogroups D, N, O, J, Q, and R, indicating gene flow from Tibetans, as well as the western and northern Eurasians. The Deng exhibited haplogroups O, D, N, and C, similar to most Sino-Tibetan populations in the east. Short tandem repeat (STR) ersity within the dominant haplogroup O3 in Sino-Tibetan populations showed that the Luoba are genetically close to Tibetans and the Deng are close to the Qiang. The Qiang had the greatest ersity of Sino-Tibetan populations, supporting the view of this population being the oldest in the family. The lowest ersity occurred in the eastern Himalayas, suggesting that this area was an endpoint for the expansion of Sino-Tibetan people. Thus, we have shown that populations with haplogroup O3 moved into the eastern Himalayas through at least two routes.
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 11-2008
DOI: 10.1534/GENETICS.108.091116
Abstract: The mitochondrial DNA hypervariable segment I (HVS-I) is widely used in studies of human evolutionary genetics, and therefore accurate estimates of mutation rates among nucleotide sites in this region are essential. We have developed a novel maximum-likelihood methodology for estimating site-specific mutation rates from partial phylogenetic information, such as haplogroup association. The resulting estimation problem is a generalized linear model, with a nonstandard link function. We develop inference and bias correction tools for our estimates and a hypothesis-testing approach for site independence. We demonstrate our methodology using 16,609 HVS-I s les from the Genographic Project. Our results suggest that mutation rates among nucleotide sites in HVS-I are highly variable. The 16,400–16,500 region exhibits significantly lower rates compared to other regions, suggesting potential functional constraints. Several loci identified in the literature as possible termination-associated sequences (TAS) do not yield statistically slower rates than the rest of HVS-I, casting doubt on their functional importance. Our tests do not reject the null hypothesis of independent mutation rates among nucleotide sites, supporting the use of site-independence assumption for analyzing HVS-I. Potential extensions of our methodology include its application to estimation of mutation rates in other genetic regions, like Y chromosome short tandem repeats.
Publisher: Cambridge University Press (CUP)
Date: 07-2020
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 24-08-2011
DOI: 10.1002/AJPA.21588
Abstract: Discovered in the early 16th century by European colonists, Bermuda is an isolated set of islands located in the mid-Atlantic. Shortly after its discovery, Bermuda became the first English colony to forcibly import its labor by trafficking in enslaved Africans, white ethnic minorities, and indigenous Americans. Oral traditions circulating today among contemporary tribes from the northeastern United States recount these same events, while, in Bermuda, St. David's Islanders consider their histories to be linked to a complex Native American, European, and African past. To investigate the influence of historical events on biological ancestry and native cultural identity, we analyzed genetic variation in 111 members of Bermuda's self-proclaimed St. David's Island Native Community. Our results reveal that the majority of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and Y-chromosome haplotypes are of African and West Eurasian origin. However, unlike other English-speaking New World colonies, most African mtDNA haplotypes appear to derive from central and southeast Africa, reflecting the extent of maritime activities in the region. In light of genealogical and oral historical data from the St. David's community, the low frequency of Native American mtDNA and NRY lineages may reflect the influence of genetic drift, the demographic impact of European colonization, and historical admixture with persons of non-native backgrounds, which began with the settlement of the islands. By comparing the genetic data with genealogical and historical information, we are able to reconstruct the complex history of this Bermudian community, which is unique among New World populations.
Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Date: 18-04-2011
Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Date: 25-07-2012
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 02-2012
DOI: 10.3109/19401736.2011.643875
Abstract: The Mosuo people are currently the only matrilocal population in China. The origins of the population and their matrilocal tradition remain unknown. To address these questions, we studied the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) ersity of the Mosuo. Lower mtDNA ersity is expected in matrilocal populations because the women remain with their families after marriage, and there is generally less movement of mtDNA genomes in matrilocal populations. However, the haplotype ersity of this population is not lower than the neighboring patrilocal populations, indicating that the Mosuo started practicing matrilocality at least after the Paleolithic Age. A previous haplogroup frequency clustering study indicated that the Mosuo are closest to the Naxi people, but the network analysis of in idual sequence haplotypes presented herein shows that most Mosuo lineages cluster with Pumi lineages. Therefore, we concluded that the Mosuo people have the closest genetic relationship with the Pumi, and that they started to practice matrilocality several thousand years ago.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 16-02-2016
DOI: 10.1111/AHG.12145
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 18-11-2010
DOI: 10.1002/AJPA.21350
Abstract: As the highest plateau surrounded by towering mountain ranges, the Tibetan Plateau was once considered to be one of the last populated areas of modern humans. However, this view has been tremendously changed by archeological, linguistic, and genetic findings in the past 60 years. Nevertheless, the timing and routes of entry of modern humans into the Tibetan Plateau is still unclear. To make these problems clear, we carried out high-resolution mitochondrial-DNA (mtDNA) analyses on 562 Tibeto-Burman inhabitants from nine different regions across the plateau. By examining the mtDNA haplogroup distributions and their principal components, we demonstrated that maternal ersity on the plateau reflects mostly a northern East Asian ancestry. Furthermore, phylogeographic analysis of plateau-specific sublineages based on 31 complete mtDNA sequences revealed two primary components: pre-last glacial maximum (LGM) inhabitants and post-LGM immigrants. Also, the analysis of one major pre-LGM sublineage A10 showed a strong signal of post-LGM population expansion (about 15,000 years ago) and greater ersity in the southern part of the Tibetan Plateau, indicating the southern plateau as a refuge place when climate dramatically changed during LGM.
Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Date: 04-02-2014
Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Date: 14-02-2013
Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Date: 28-03-0055
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 05-2008
Publisher: Cambridge University Press (CUP)
Date: 13-12-2017
DOI: 10.1017/S002531541700193X
Abstract: The worldwide population of the leatherback turtle ( Dermochelys coriacea ) encompasses seven subpopulations among the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian Oceans. It has experienced declines across parts of its distribution, with the subpopulation of the South-west Atlantic listed as critically endangered by the IUCN Red List. The main threats to this subpopulation include its interaction with fisheries, coastal development, pollution and climate change. In this study, we sequenced mitochondrial DNA from 52 leatherback turtles in Brazil and combined these with published data from other Atlantic Ocean rookeries. The haplotype ersities of the Atlantic population rookeries ranged from 0.112 to 0.533 and are not directly proportional to current rookery sizes. The Brazilian rookery, despite recording low nest numbers per year, had the second-highest haplotype ersity among all Atlantic rookeries ( h = 0.532). A mixed-stock analysis revealed that the South American pelagic aggregate is primarily composed of in iduals from West Africa (84%), with contributions from the North Atlantic rookeries (14%). Leatherback turtles appear to have a complex phylogeographic pattern, showing evidence of multiple colonization events and a lack of isolation by distance. Our novel dataset, based on DNA sequences of 695 base pairs, will provide baseline data needed to understand population dynamics in the region, building comprehensive population assessments to support and develop management strategies. Having both the only known regular rookery in the South-west Atlantic, and a mixed-origin foraging area for the species along its coast, Brazil has a key role in the conservation of the leatherback turtle.
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 13-05-2011
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 23-12-2010
DOI: 10.1038/JHG.2010.165
Abstract: Selections on human mitochondrial variations are difficult to examine. In this study, we found possible signs of selection on mitochondrial M7 lineages among the Gelong people who migrated from Guizhou to Hainan (the hottest province in China) throughout the last 1000 years. The genetic structure of the Gelong people shows an obvious sex-biased population admixture pattern with only 4.9% paternal contribution but 30.7% maternal contribution from indigenous Hlai people. According to frequency spectrum tests for deviation from neutrality and mismatch tests of demographic expansion, part of the maternal mitochondrial M7 lineages among the Gelong came from the Hlai had spread quickly and therefore might have undergone positive selection. In the future, whole mitochondrial genome sequencing might reveal the functional advantage of the M7 lineages.
Publisher: Mary Ann Liebert Inc
Date: 11-2008
Abstract: Traditionally nonrecombinant genome, i.e., mtDNA or Y chromosome, has been used for phylogeography, notably for ease of analysis. The topology of the phylogeny structure in this case is an acyclic graph, which is often a tree, is easy to comprehend and is somewhat easy to infer. However, recombination is an undeniable genetic fact for most part of the genome. Driven by the need for a more complete analysis, we address the problem of estimating the ancestral recombination graph (ARG) from a collection of extant sequences. We exploit the coherence that is observed in the human haplotypes as patterns and present a network model of patterns to reconstruct the ARG. We test our model on simulations that closely mimic the observed haplotypes and observe promising results.
Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Date: 30-01-2013
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 20-04-2011
DOI: 10.1038/EJHG.2011.64
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 12-03-2012
Abstract: Basque people have received considerable attention from anthropologists, geneticists, and linguists during the last century due to the singularity of their language and to other cultural and biological characteristics. Despite the multidisciplinary efforts performed to address the questions of the origin, uniqueness, and heterogeneity of Basques, the genetic studies performed up to now have suffered from a weak study design where populations are not analyzed in an adequate geographic and population context. To address the former questions and to overcome these design limitations, we have analyzed the uniparentally inherited markers (Y chromosome and mitochondrial DNA) of ~900 in iduals from 18 populations, including those where Basque is currently spoken and populations from adjacent regions where Basque might have been spoken in historical times. Our results indicate that Basque-speaking populations fall within the genetic Western European gene pool, that they are similar to geographically surrounding non-Basque populations, and also that their genetic uniqueness is based on a lower amount of external influences compared with other Iberians and French populations. Our data suggest that the genetic heterogeneity and structure observed in the Basque region result from pre-Roman tribal structure related to geography and might be linked to the increased complexity of emerging societies during the Bronze Age. The rough overlap of the pre-Roman tribe location and the current dialect limits support the notion that the environmental ersity in the region has played a recurrent role in cultural differentiation and ethnogenesis at different time periods.
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 27-11-2015
Publisher: Hindawi Limited
Date: 12-2008
DOI: 10.1002/HUMU.20835
Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Date: 09-11-2010
Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Date: 28-11-2012
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 06-03-2007
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 2014
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 05-2012
DOI: 10.1002/AJPA.22068
Publisher: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Date: 14-05-2012
Abstract: For decades, the peopling of the Americas has been explored through the analysis of uniparentally inherited genetic systems in Native American populations and the comparison of these genetic data with current linguistic groupings. In northern North America, two language families predominate: Eskimo-Aleut and Na-Dene. Although the genetic evidence from nuclear and mtDNA loci suggest that speakers of these language families share a distinct biological origin, this model has not been examined using data from paternally inherited Y chromosomes. To test this hypothesis and elucidate the migration histories of Eskimoan- and Athapaskan-speaking populations, we analyzed Y-chromosomal data from Inuvialuit, Gwich’in, and Tłįchǫ populations living in the Northwest Territories of Canada. Over 100 biallelic markers and 19 chromosome short tandem repeats (STRs) were genotyped to produce a high-resolution dataset of Y chromosomes from these groups. Among these markers is an SNP discovered in the Inuvialuit that differentiates them from other Aboriginal and Native American populations. The data suggest that Canadian Eskimoan- and Athapaskan-speaking populations are genetically distinct from one another and that the formation of these groups was the result of two population expansions that occurred after the initial movement of people into the Americas. In addition, the population history of Athapaskan speakers is complex, with the Tłįchǫ being distinct from other Athapaskan groups. The high-resolution biallelic data also make clear that Y-chromosomal ersity among the first Native Americans was greater than previously recognized.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 11-2008
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 18-10-2011
DOI: 10.1007/S00439-011-1104-8
Abstract: We have analyzed human genetic ersity in 33 Old World populations including 23 populations obtained through Genographic Project studies. A set of 1,536 SNPs in five X chromosome regions were genotyped in 1,288 in iduals (mostly males). We use a novel analysis employing subARG network construction with recombining chromosomal segments. Here, a subARG is constructed independently for each of five gene-free regions across the X chromosome, and the results are aggregated across them. For PCA, MDS and ancestry inference with STRUCTURE, the subARG is processed to obtain feature vectors of s les and pairwise distances between s les. The observed population structure, estimated from the five short X chromosomal segments, supports genome-wide frequency-based analyses: African populations show higher genetic ersity, and the general trend of shared variation is seen across the globe from Africa through Middle East, Europe, Central Asia, Southeast Asia, and East Asia in broad patterns. The recombinational analysis was also compared with established methods based on SNPs and haplotypes. For haplotypes, we also employed a fixed-length approach based on information-content optimization. Our recombinational analysis suggested a southern migration route out of Africa, and it also supports a single, rapid human expansion from Africa to East Asia through South Asia.
Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Date: 29-05-2013
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 13-02-2008
DOI: 10.1007/S10038-008-0250-X
Abstract: The Han Chinese is the largest single ethnic group in the world, consisting of ten Chinese branches. With the exception of the Pinghua branch, the genetic structure of this group has been studied extensively, and Y chromosome and mitochondrial (mt)DNA data have demonstrated a coherent genetic structure of all Han Chinese. It is therefore believed that the Pinghua branch, being members of an old branch of the Han Chinese, despite being scattered in and around Guangxi Province where members of the Daic and Hmong-Mien are more prevalent than Han Chinese, is no exception. We have studied 470 in idual s les (including 195 males) from Pinghua populations and other ethnic groups (Zhuang, Kam, Mulam, Laka, and Mien) from six areas (Hezhou, Fuchuan, Luocheng, Jinxiu, Sanjiang, and Wuxuan) in the north of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region of China. Both mtDNA and the Y chromosomes were typed in these s les. High frequencies of the Y chromosome haplogroups O2a* and O*, which always present at a high frequency among the populations of the southern minorities, were found in Pinghua populations. Only Pinghua populations in Luocheng and Jinxiu maintain the Han frequent haplogroup O3a5a. mtDNA lineages B4a, B5a, M*, F1a, M7b1, and N* were found in Pinghua populations, exhibiting a pattern similar to the neighboring indigenous populations, especially the Daic populations. Cluster analyses (dendrograms, principal component analyses, and networks) of Pinghua populations, the other Han branches, and other ethnic groups in East Asia indicated that Pinghua populations are much closer to the southern minorities than to the other Han branches. Admixture analyses confirmed this result. In conclusion, we argue that Pinghua populations did not descend from Han Chinese, but from southern minorities. The ancestral populations of Pinghua people were assimilated by the Han Chinese in terms of language, culture, and self-identification and, consequently, the Pinghua people became an exceptional branch of Han Chinese's coherent genetic structure.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 13-09-2011
DOI: 10.1002/AJPA.21519
Abstract: The human Y chromosome contains highly informative markers for making historical inferences about the pre-Columbian peopling of Americas. However, the scarcity of these markers has limited its use in the inference of shared ancestry and past migrations relevant to the origin of the culturally and biologically erse Native Americans. To identify new single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and increase the phylogenetic resolution of the major haplogroup Q found in the Americas, we have performed a search for new polymorphisms based on sequencing ergent Y chromosomes identified by microsatellite haplotype analysis. Using this approach, a new Y-SNP (SA01) has been identified in the Andean populations of South America, allowing for the detection of a new sublineage of Q1a3a. This sublineage displays a less complex phylogeographic network of associated microsatellites and more restricted geographic occurrence, and is given the designation Q1a3a4. This result indicates that our approach can be successfully used to identify sublineages of interest in a specific region that allow the investigation of particular histories of human populations.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 29-04-2014
DOI: 10.1038/NCOMMS4513
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 23-04-2013
DOI: 10.1038/NCOMMS2656
Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Date: 02-09-2015
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 13-03-2017
DOI: 10.1038/SREP43041
Abstract: Aboriginal Australians represent one of the oldest continuous cultures outside Africa, with evidence indicating that their ancestors arrived in the ancient landmass of Sahul (present-day New Guinea and Australia) ~55 thousand years ago. Genetic studies, though limited, have demonstrated both the uniqueness and antiquity of Aboriginal Australian genomes. We have further resolved known Aboriginal Australian mitochondrial haplogroups and discovered novel indigenous lineages by sequencing the mitogenomes of 127 contemporary Aboriginal Australians. In particular, the more common haplogroups observed in our dataset included M42a, M42c, S, P5 and P12, followed by rarer haplogroups M15, M16, N13, O, P3, P6 and P8. We propose some major phylogenetic rearrangements, such as in haplogroup P where we delinked P4a and P4b and redefined them as P4 (New Guinean) and P11 (Australian), respectively. Haplogroup P2b was identified as a novel clade potentially restricted to Torres Strait Islanders. Nearly all Aboriginal Australian mitochondrial haplogroups detected appear to be ancient, with no evidence of later introgression during the Holocene. Our findings greatly increase knowledge about the geographic distribution and phylogenetic structure of mitochondrial lineages that have survived in contemporary descendants of Australia’s first settlers.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 09-2018
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 05-2011
Publisher: American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
Date: 11-10-2013
Abstract: To investigate the genetic origins of modern Europeans, Brandt et al. (p. 257 ) examined ancient mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and were able to identify genetic differences in 364 Central Europeans spanning the early Neolithic to the Early Bronze Age. Observed changes in mitochondrial haplotypes corresponded with hypothesized human migration across Eurasia and revealed the complexity of the demographic changes and evidence of a Late Neolithic origin for the European mtDNA gene pool. This transect through time reveals four key population events associated with well-known archaeological cultures, which involved genetic influx into Central Europe from various directions at various times.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 30-10-2015
DOI: 10.1002/AJPA.22886
Abstract: Understanding the origins of Aboriginal Australians is crucial in reconstructing the evolution and spread of Homo sapiens as evidence suggests they represent the descendants of the earliest group to leave Africa. This study analyzed a large s le of Y-chromosomes to answer questions relating to the migration routes of their ancestors, the age of Y-haplogroups, date of colonization, as well as the extent of male-specific variation. Knowledge of Y-chromosome variation among Aboriginal Australians is extremely limited. This study examined Y-SNP and Y-STR variation among 657 self-declared Aboriginal males from locations across the continent. 17 Y-STR loci and 47 Y-SNPs spanning the Y-chromosome phylogeny were typed in total. The proportion of non-indigenous Y-chromosomes of assumed Eurasian origin was high, at 56%. Y lineages of indigenous Sahul origin belonged to haplogroups C-M130*(xM8,M38,M217,M347) (1%), C-M347 (19%), K-M526*(xM147,P308,P79,P261,P256,M231,M175,M45,P202) (12%), S-P308 (12%), and M-M186 (0.9%). Haplogroups C-M347, K-M526*, and S-P308 are Aboriginal Australian-specific. Dating of C-M347, K-M526*, and S-P308 indicates that all are at least 40,000 years old, confirming their long-term presence in Australia. Haplogroup C-M347 comprised at least three sub-haplogroups: C-DYS390.1del, C-M210, and the unresolved paragroup C-M347*(xDYS390.1del,M210). There was some geographic structure to the Y-haplogroup variation, but most haplogroups were present throughout Australia. The age of the Australian-specific Y-haplogroups suggests New Guineans and Aboriginal Australians have been isolated for over 30,000 years, supporting findings based on mitochondrial DNA data. Our data support the hypothesis of more than one route (via New Guinea) for males entering Sahul some 50,000 years ago and give no support for colonization events during the Holocene, from either India or elsewhere.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 17-07-2014
DOI: 10.1002/AJPA.22569
Abstract: Puerto Rico and the surrounding islands rest on the eastern fringe of the Caribbean's Greater Antilles, located less than 100 miles northwest of the Lesser Antilles. Puerto Ricans are genetic descendants of pre-Columbian peoples, as well as peoples of European and African descent through 500 years of migration to the island. To infer these patterns of pre-Columbian and historic peopling of the Caribbean, we characterized genetic ersity in 326 in iduals from the southeastern region of Puerto Rico and the island municipality of Vieques. We sequenced the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) control region of all of the s les and the complete mitogenomes of 12 of them to infer their putative place of origin. In addition, we genotyped 121 male s les for 25 Y-chromosome single nucleotide polymorphism and 17 STR loci. Approximately 60% of the participants had indigenous mtDNA haplotypes (mostly from haplogroups A2 and C1), while 25% had African and 15% European haplotypes. Three A2 sublineages were unique to the Greater Antilles, one of which was similar to Mesoamerican types, while C1b haplogroups showed links to South America, suggesting that people reached the island from the two distinct continental source areas. However, none of the male participants had indigenous Y-chromosomes, with 85% of them instead being European/Mediterranean and 15% sub-Saharan African in origin. West Eurasian Y-chromosome short tandem repeat haplotypes were quite erse and showed similarities to those observed in southern Europe, North Africa and the Middle East. These results attest to the distinct, yet equally complex, pasts for the male and female ancestors of modern day Puerto Ricans.
Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Date: 29-06-2007
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 04-2008
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 09-2011
Abstract: The information left by recombination in our genomes can be used to make inferences on our recent evolutionary history. Specifically, the number of past recombination events in a population s le is a function of its effective population size (Ne). We have applied a method, Identifying Recombination in Sequences (IRiS), to detect specific past recombination events in 30 Old World populations to infer their Ne. We have found that sub-Saharan African populations have an Ne that is approximately four times greater than those of non-African populations and that outside of Africa, South Asian populations had the largest Ne. We also observe that the patterns of recombinational ersity of these populations correlate with distance out of Africa if that distance is measured along a path crossing South Arabia. No such correlation is found through a Sinai route, suggesting that anatomically modern humans first left Africa through the Bab-el-Mandeb strait rather than through present Egypt.
Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Date: 24-11-2010
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 12-10-2009
Publisher: American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
Date: 07-12-2018
Abstract: The expansion into the Americas by the ancestors of present day Native Americans has been difficult to tease apart from analyses of present day populations. To understand how humans erged and spread across North and South America, Moreno-Mayar et al. sequenced 15 ancient human genomes from Alaska to Patagonia. Analysis of the oldest genomes suggests that there was an early split within Beringian populations, giving rise to the Northern and Southern lineages. Because population history cannot be explained by simple models or patterns of dispersal, it seems that people moved out of Beringia and across the continents in a complex manner. Science , this issue p. eaav2621
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 03-2018
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 12-03-2010
DOI: 10.1002/AJPA.21281
Abstract: The name "W anoag" means "Eastern People" or "People of the First Light" in the local dialect of the Algonquian language. Once extensively populating the coastal lands and neighboring islands of the eastern United States, the W anoag people now consist of two federally recognized tribes, the Aquinnah and Mashpee, the state-recognized Seaconke W anoag tribe, and a number of bands and clans in present-day southern Massachusetts. Because of repeated epidemics and conflicts with English colonists, including King Philip's War of 1675-76, and subsequent colonial laws forbidding tribal identification, the W anoag population was largely decimated, decreasing in size from as many as 12,000 in iduals in the 16th century to less than 400, as recorded in 1677. To investigate the influence of the historical past on its biological ancestry and native cultural identity, we analyzed genetic variation in the Seaconke W anoag tribe. Our results indicate that the majority of their mtDNA haplotypes belongs to West Eurasian and African lineages, thus reflecting the extent of their contacts and interactions with people of European and African descent. On the paternal side, Y-chromosome analysis identified a range of Native American, West Eurasian, and African haplogroups in the population, and also surprisingly revealed the presence of a paternal lineage that appears at its highest frequencies in New Guinea and Melanesia. Comparison of the genetic data with genealogical and historical information allows us to reconstruct the tribal history of the Seaconke W anoag back to at least the early 18th century.
Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Date: 31-08-2011
No related grants have been discovered for Fabricio R Santos.