A study of the molecular variants associated with lactase persistence in different Ecuadorian ethnic groups

Abstract

The presence of the T-13910 polymorphism in the Ecuadorian population suggested that LP was a trait introduced by European migration and inherited by admixture that occurred during the colonization of South America. This variant was not fixed in a population with a history of admixture, and its allele frequency was proportional to the ancestry proportion of each Ecuadorian ethnic group. Am. J. Hum. Biol. 28:774-781, 2016. © 2016Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Tracing the Distribution of European Lactase Persistence Genotypes Along the Americas

“…This is consistent with the absence of the –13910 ∗ T allele in ancient and present-day unadmixed Native Americans and with the hypothesis that this allele was probably introduced in the Americas by Europeans since the Colonial period. Furthermore, the identification of the –14011 ∗ T and –13915 ∗ G alleles in low frequencies in Afro-Brazilians from Curitiba agrees with the frequencies previously reported ( Friedrich et al, 2012b ; Paz-Y-Miño et al, 2016 ), corroborating the suggestion that the phenotypic variation observed in this study is mainly due to the –13910C > T variation of European origin.…”

“…Despite breeding these animals, there is no archeological or cultural evidence of dairy consumption by Native American populations until Europeans arrived in the late fifteenth century ( Gade, 1999 ) – cattle were not introduced in the Americas until 1493 ( Primo, 1992 ). Not surprisingly, studies regarding living Native Americans from Brazil ( Friedrich et al, 2012a ), Chile ( Fernández et al, 2016 ), Ecuador ( Paz-Y-Miño et al, 2016 ), Mexico ( Ojeda-Granados et al, 2016 ), Peru ( Figueroa et al, 1971 ), and the United States ( Duncan and Scott, 1972 ; Casey, 2005 ) identified lower LP phenotype frequencies in these populations (20% on average), suggesting that most people cannot digest lactose naturally. Countries such as Peru, Mexico, and Chile have a high proportion of Native American ancestry – 80, 57.5, and 49.3%, respectively ( Ruiz-Linares et al, 2014 ; Adhikari et al, 2016 ; Harris et al, 2018 ) – which could explain the low frequency of the LP phenotype.…”

“…Moreover, African and Middle Eastern SNPs have been reported at very low frequencies in the Americas. The frequency of –14010 ∗ C ( –14010G > C , rs145946881) in Afro-Brazilians from the South is 0.27% ( Friedrich et al, 2012b ); the frequencies of –14011 ∗ T ( –14011C > T , rs4988233) in admixed Brazilians from the North and the Northeast are 0.25 and 0.58%, respectively ( Friedrich et al, 2012b ); and the frequencies of –13913 ∗ C ( –13913T > C , rs4145614) and –13915 ∗ G ( –13915T > G , rs41380347) in Mestizos from Ecuador are 0.20 and 0.50%, respectively ( Paz-Y-Miño et al, 2016 ). Therefore, the phenotypic variation observed is mainly due to the –13910C > T (rs4988235) substitution of European origin.…”

“…Therefore, the phenotypic variation observed is mainly due to the –13910C > T (rs4988235) substitution of European origin. Thus, the admixture events that led to the formation of current Latin American populations contributed to introducing LP-associated alleles in these groups ( Friedrich et al, 2012a ; Mendoza Torres et al, 2012 ; Latorre et al, 2014 ; Fernández et al, 2016 ; Ojeda-Granados et al, 2016 ; Paz-Y-Miño et al, 2016 ; Valencia et al, 2017 ; Montalva et al, 2019 ). Consequently, higher frequencies of the LP phenotype are observed in admixed populations from Brazil ( Friedrich et al, 2012b ), and Mestizos from Chile ( Fernández et al, 2016 ), Colombia ( Mendoza Torres et al, 2012 ), Ecuador ( Paz-Y-Miño et al, 2016 ), and Mexico ( Ojeda-Granados et al, 2016 ).…”

Evaluation of ancestral membership proportions and genotype distribution in the perception of Umami taste in Ecuadorian mestizos

“…Recent studies related the genetic factors and taste sensitivity that have characterized the populations on the perception of flavors and their choice of diet [4]. Demographically Ecuadorians have a high Native Americans ancestry.…”