Insights into the Middle Eastern paternal genetic pool in Tunisia: high prevalence of T-M70 haplogroup in an Arab population - PubMed (original) (raw)

Insights into the Middle Eastern paternal genetic pool in Tunisia: high prevalence of T-M70 haplogroup in an Arab population

Sarra Elkamel et al. Sci Rep. 2021.

Abstract

To obtain refreshed insights into the paternal lineages of Tunisian populations, Y-chromosome diversity was assessed in two populations belonging to an Arab genealogical lineage, Kairouan and Wesletia, as well as in four Tunisian Andalusian populations, Testour, Slouguia, Qalaat-El-Andalous and El Alia. The Arabs from Kairouan revealed 73.47% of E-M81 and close affinities with Berber groups, indicating they are likely arabized Berbers, clearly differentiated from the Arabs from Wesletia, who harbored the highest frequency (71.8%) of the Middle Eastern component ever observed in North Africa. In the Tunisian Andalusians, the North African component largely prevailed, followed by the Middle Eastern contribution. Global comparative analysis highlighted the heterogeneity of Tunisian populations, among which, as a whole, dominated a set of lineages ascribed to be of autochthonous Berber origin (71.67%), beside a component of essentially Middle Eastern extraction (18.35%), and signatures of Sub-Saharan (5.2%), European (3.45%) and Asiatic (1.33%) contributions. The remarkable frequency of T-M70 in Wesletia (17.4%) prompted to refine its phylogeographic analysis, allowing to confirm its Middle Eastern origin, though signs of local evolution in Northern Africa were also detected. Evidence was clear on the ancient introduction of T lineages into the region, probably since Neolithic times associated to spread of agriculture.

© 2021. The Author(s).

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Figure. 1

Figure. 1

Distribution of Y-chromosomal haplogroups in Arab and Andalusian populations (a) and in 21 Tunisian populations (b) (details of Y-Chromosome haplogroups frequencies in Supporting Information Table S2).

Figure. 2

Figure. 2

Multidimensional scaling plot based on R ST genetic distances between pairs of 59 worldwide populations (references of populations in Supporting Information Table S4).

Figure. 3

Figure. 3

Median-joining networks of haplogroup T based on 17 Y-STR (A) and 13 Y-STR (B) in North African and Middle Eastearn samples; and in worldwide populations (C) using 13 Y-STR loci. The samples are color-coded according to the population they belong to (see Supporting Information Table S5) and the size of the circles is proportional to the frequency of a given Y-STR haplotype as the smallest circle is equal to one sample. The lengths of the connecting lines are proportional to the number of mutational steps separating two haplotypes.

Similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. De Morgan, J. Les premières civilisations: études sur la préhistoire et l’histoire jusqu’à la fin de l’empire macédonien. Leroux, (1909).
    1. Camps-Fabrer, H. Capsien du Maghreb et Natoufien du Proche Orient. Travaux du Laboratoire d’anthropologie et de préhistoire des pays de la Méditerranée occidentale 71–104 (1989).
    1. Rahmani N. Technological and cultural change among the last hunter-gatherers of the Maghreb: The Capsian (10,000–6000 BP) J. World Prehist. 2004;18:57–105. doi: 10.1023/B:JOWO.0000038658.50738.eb. - DOI
    1. Zoughlami, J., Chenorkian, R. & Harbi-Riahi, M. Atlas préhistorique de la Tunisie. 11. Kairouan. Publications de l’École française de Rome81, (1998).
    1. Ben Nasr, J. Quatre abris peints découverts au Jebel Ousselat (Tunisie centrale). Préhistoires Méditerranéennes 159–166 (2002).

Publication types

MeSH terms

LinkOut - more resources