Genetic structure of north-west Africa revealed by STR analysis (original) (raw)

European Journal of Human Genetics volume 8, pages 360–366 (2000)Cite this article

Abstract

We have analysed a large set of autosomal short tandem repeat (STR) loci in several Arabic and Berber-speaking groups from north-west Africa (ie Moroccan Arabs, northern-central and southern Moroccan Berbers, Saharawis, and Mozabites). Two levels of analysis have been devised using two sets of 12 STR loci, (D3S1358, vWA, FGA, THO1, TPOX, CSF1PO, D8S1179, D21S11, D18S51, D5S818, D13S317 and D7S820) and 21 (the former set plus D9S926, D11S2010, D13S767, D14S306, D18S848, D2S1328, D4S243, F13A1, and FES/FPS). For each set, data for a number of external reference populations were gathered from the literature. Several methods of analysis based on genetic distances (neighbour-joining trees, principal coordinate analysis, boundary detection), as well as AMOVA, showed that genetic differentiation among NW African populations was very low and devoid of any spatial pattern. When the NW African populations were grouped according to cultural or linguistic differences, the partition was not associated with genetic differentiation. Thus, it is likely that Arabisation was mainly a cultural process. A clear genetic difference was found between NW African populations and Iberians, which underscores the Gilbraltar Straits as a strong barrier to genetic exchange; nonetheless, some degree of gene flow into Southern Iberia may have existed. NW Africans were genetically closer to Iberians and to other Europeans than to African Americans.

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  1. Unitat de Biologia Evolutiva, Facultat de Ciències de la Salut i de la Vida, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain
    Elena Bosch, Francesc Calafell, Anna Pérez-Lezaun, Jordi Clarimón, David Comas, Eva Mateu, Rosa Martínez-Arias, Bernal Morera & Jaume Bertranpetit
  2. Laboratoire de Biologie Cellulaire et Moléculaire, Faculté des Sciences, Université Ibnou Zohr, Agadir
    Zahra Brakez & Omar Akhayat
  3. Institut National d'Hygiène, Rabat, Morocco
    Abdelaziz Sefiani
  4. Hôpital Mustapha, CHU Alger Centre, Algeria
    Ghania Hariti
  5. INSERM U 518, Faculté de Medicine, Toulouse, France
    Anne Cambon-Thomsen

Authors

  1. Elena Bosch
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  2. Francesc Calafell
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  3. Anna Pérez-Lezaun
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  4. Jordi Clarimón
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  5. David Comas
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  6. Eva Mateu
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  7. Rosa Martínez-Arias
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  8. Bernal Morera
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  9. Zahra Brakez
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  10. Omar Akhayat
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  11. Abdelaziz Sefiani
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  12. Ghania Hariti
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  13. Anne Cambon-Thomsen
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  14. Jaume Bertranpetit
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Correspondence toJaume Bertranpetit.

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Bosch, E., Calafell, F., Pérez-Lezaun, A. et al. Genetic structure of north-west Africa revealed by STR analysis.Eur J Hum Genet 8, 360–366 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ejhg.5200464

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