Title
Origins, admixture dynamics, and homogenization of the african gene pool in the americas
Date Issued
01 June 2020
Access level
open access
Resource Type
journal article
Author(s)
Gouveia M.H.
Leal T.P.
Moreira R.G.
Bergen A.W.
Kehdy F.S.G.
Alvim I.
Aquino M.M.
Araujo G.S.
Araujo N.M.
Furlan V.
Liboredo R.
Machado M.
Magalhaes W.C.S.
Michelin L.A.
Rodrigues M.R.
Rodrigues-Soares F.
Sant Anna H.P.
Scliar M.O.
Soares-Souza G.
Zamudio R.
Zolini C.
Catira Bortolini M.
Dean M.
Rocha J.
Pereira A.C.
Barreto M.L.
Horta B.L.
Lima-Costa M.F.
Mbulaiteye S.M.
Chanock S.J.
Tishkoff S.A.
Yeager M.
Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais
Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais
Publisher(s)
Oxford University Press
Abstract
The Transatlantic Slave Trade transportedmore than 9 million Africans to the Americas between the early 16th and the mid-19th centuries. We performed a genome-wide analysis using 6,267 individuals from 25 populations to infer how different African groups contributed to North-, South-American, and Caribbean populations, in the context of geographic and geopolitical factors, and compared genetic data with demographic history records of the Transatlantic Slave Trade. We observed that West-Central Africa and Western Africa-associated ancestry clusters are more prevalent in northern latitudes of the Americas, whereas the South/East Africa-associated ancestry cluster is more prevalent in southern latitudes of the Americas. This pattern results from geographic and geopolitical factors leading to population differentiation. However, there is a substantial decrease in the between-population differentiation of the African gene pool within the Americas, when compared with the regions of origin from Africa, underscoring the importance of historical factors favoring admixture between individuals with different African origins in the New World. This between-population homogenization in the Americas is consistent with the excess of West-Central Africa ancestry (the most prevalent in the Americas) in the United States and Southeast-Brazil, with respect to historicaldemography expectations. We also inferred that in most of the Americas, intercontinental admixture intensification occurred between 1750 and 1850, which correlates strongly with the peak of arrivals from Africa. This study contributes with a population genetics perspective to the ongoing social, cultural, and political debate regarding ancestry, admixture, and the mestizaje process in the Americas.
Start page
1647
End page
1656
Volume
37
Issue
6
Language
English
OCDE Knowledge area
Genética, Herencia
Scopus EID
2-s2.0-85085629959
PubMed ID
Source
Molecular Biology and Evolution
ISSN of the container
0737-4038
Sponsor(s)
National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases / R01DK104339
Sources of information: Directorio de Producción Científica Scopus