BackgroundGenetic variation at NAT2 has been long recognized as the cause of differential ability to metabolize a wide variety of drugs of therapeutic use. Here, we explore the pattern of genetic variation in 12 human populations that significantly extend the geographic range and resolution of previous surveys, to test the hypothesis that different dietary regimens and lifestyles may explain inter-population differences in NAT2 variation.Methodology/Principal FindingsThe entire coding region was resequenced in 98 subjects and six polymorphic positions were genotyped in 150 additional subjects. A single previously undescribed variant was found (34T>C; 12Y>H). Several aspects of the data do not fit the expectations of a neutral model, as assessed by coalescent simulations. Tajima's D is positive in all populations, indicating an excess of intermediate alleles. The level of between-population differentiation is low, and is mainly accounted for by the proportion of fast vs. slow acetylators. However, haplotype frequencies significantly differ across groups of populations with different subsistence.Conclusions/SignificanceData on the structure of haplotypes and their frequencies are compatible with a model in which slow-causing variants were present in widely dispersed populations before major shifts to pastoralism and/or agriculture. In this model, slow-causing mutations gained a selective advantage in populations shifting from hunting-gathering to pastoralism/agriculture. We suggest the diminished dietary availability of folates resulting from the nutritional shift, as the possible cause of the fitness increase associated to haplotypes carrying mutations that reduce enzymatic activity.

Five datasets consisting of samples jointly typed for Y-chromosomal Unique Event Polymorphism (UEP) and simple tandem repeat (STR) markers were re-examined with independent methods for dating the different UEP-defined lineages. We report on the results obtained with an original program which performs comparative dating (BARCODE) in comparison with coalescent analyses performed with BATWING under various prior conditions. For the first time these are equalized across datasets. We also report on the results concerning STR mutability as obtained with both methods. The dating results for the entire series of sub-haplogroups are highly correlated. Within coalescent analyses, dating-estimates under a wide range of priors tend to converge. As to STR mutation rates the main findings are: (1) large variations among loci within the same dataset with both methods, also when the same prior was used for all loci; (2) figures in most cases above 1x10(-3) and often above 2x10(-3); (3) a few loci that mutate differently across studies. These results closely match those obtained from direct observation of father-son transmissions. Overall, this work supports the use of genetic dating procedures that take into account the complexity of the phenomenon, with a repertoire of priors tailored on the particular dataset.