Gm haplotype distribution in Amerindians: Relationship with geography and language

Abstract

A review is made of the Gm haplotype distribution in 60 groups of Eskimos, North, Central and South American Indians, totaling 22,808 individuals. Differences were observed in the shapes of the distribution of Gm*ag and the other markers. Nearly identical values for FST and average heterozygosities were obtained in the North+Central/South comparisons. North-South and Southwest/Northeast clinal differences were observed in the Americas using correspondence factorial analysis. The two haplotypes mainly responsible for these differences are Gm*axg and Gm*abOst. When the populations are classified by language groups, besides the recognized differences between Eskimos and Athabaskan (Na-Dene) speakers compared with Amerinds, others are found. For instance, Uto-Aztecan speakers of the United States and Mexico differ in Gm frequencies from the Nuclear Chibchan, Macro-Arawak, and Carib speakers of Central and South America. The notion of a homogeneous Amerind genetic pool does not conform with these and other results.

DNA analysis of the immunoglobulin IGHG loci in a Mandenka population from eastern Senegal: correlation with Gm haplotypes and hypotheses for the evolution of the Ig CH region

“…The numerous data available for each continent has been successfully used to reconstruct human migration history (Williams et al 1985;Excoffier et al 1987;Matsumoto 1988;Sanchez-Mazas and Langaney 1988;Zhao and Lee 1989;Sanchez-Mazas 1990;Sanchez-Mazas and Pellegrini 1990;Callegari-Jacques et al 1993). Possible departures from neutrality have been tested in many population samples of various origins, and the neutral hypothesis has never been rejected (A. Sanchez-Mazas, unpublished), as is also the case for the presently studied Mandenka sample (Table 3).…”

Genetic Diversity in an Andean Population from Peru and Regional Migration Patterns of Amerindians in South America: Data from Y Chromosome and Mitochondrial DNA

“…Previous studies, including multivariate analyses comparing the gene frequency of several blood proteins and the HLA system, and dermatoglyphic, craniometrical and morphological features with linguistic and geographic/climatic variables, have produced controversial results [1, 57, 61, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72]. In contrast, our DNA marker data demonstrate that there exist significant genetic differences between the Amazon, the Andean and Southern natives for RFLP-mtDNA, whereas the differences in the Y-specific markers between Andean and Amazon natives are low, although the number of males studied is still too small.…”

A defective Vkappa A2 allele in Navajos which may play a role in increased susceptibility to haemophilus influenzae type b disease.

“…These three populations are genetically very closely related. The Navajo, Apache, and Southwest Alaskan Eskimos are the only Native Americans who are descended from the Na-dene group, which migrated from Asia ‫ف‬ 12,000 years ago (19)(20)(21). Before the recent advent of conjugate vaccines, it was documented that 2.5% of Southwest Alaskan Eskimo children under 12 mo of age develop Hib disease, and overall the disease was fivefold more prevalent than in control North American populations (16).…”