Evolutionary Responses to a Constructed Niche: Ancient Mesoamericans as a Model of Gene-Culture Coevolution

Abstract

Culture and genetics rely on two distinct but not isolated transmission systems. Cultural processes may change the human selective environment and thereby affect which individuals survive and reproduce. Here, we evaluated whether the modes of subsistence in Native American populations and the frequencies of the ABCA1*Arg230Cys polymorphism were correlated. Further, we examined whether the evolutionary consequences of the agriculturally constructed niche in Mesoamerica could be considered as a gene-culture coevolution model. For this purpose, we genotyped 229 individuals affiliated with 19 Native American populations and added data for 41 other Native American groups (n = 1905) to the analysis. In combination with the SNP cluster of a neutral region, this dataset was then used to unravel the scenario involved in 230Cys evolutionary history. The estimated age of 230Cys is compatible with its origin occurring in the American continent. The correlation of its frequencies with the archeological data on Zea pollen in Mesoamerica/Central America, the neutral coalescent simulations, and the FST-based natural selection analysis suggest that maize domestication was the driving force in the increase in the frequencies of 230Cys in this region. These results may represent the first example of a gene-culture coevolution involving an autochthonous American allele.

The First Peopling of South America: New Evidence from Y-Chromosome Haplogroup Q

“…In particular, while the subsistence economy of pre-Colombian Mexican society was strictly based on maize cultivation, in the Andes it was more varied, due to the presence of many different habitats and, unlike in Mexico, also took advantage of animal domestication. The consequent creation of ecological niches under different selection pressures may have determined changes in allele/haplotype frequency, as documented by the results of different studies on Central and South American populations [61]–[63]. In this scenario, even though Y-chromosome haplogroups may not be directly involved in activating this process, their frequency and variation could be influenced by genetic drift in areas where these evolutionary events took place.…”

Genetic signature of natural selection in first Americans

“…The high frequencies occur despite marked differences in lifestyles and diets of the different indigenous populations. Amazonian hunter-gatherers have highly variable diets, mainly composed of fruits, roots, and small mammals, whereas agriculturalists from Mesoamerica and the Andean region eat food based on crop agriculture (27) (Table S4). By contrast, Arctic populations such as the Inuit have diets that rely on hunting marine mammals and have animal fat as the main source of nutrients (10).…”

Genetic and environmental determinants of the susceptibility of Amerindian derived populations for having hypertriglyceridemia

“…A large percentage of the Hispanics living in the US or in Latin America have their origins in the Amerindian groups, the first residents of the continent. The Amerindians have suffered infections, wars and famine that have reshaped several times their environment, lifestyle and the size of the population [4]. As a consequence, it is likely that selection processes has occurred in this ethnic group.…”