The imprint of the Slave Trade in an African American population: mitochondrial DNA, Y chromosome and HTLV-1 analysis in the Noir Marron of French Guiana

Abstract

BackgroundRetracing the genetic histories of the descendant populations of the Slave Trade (16th-19th centuries) is particularly challenging due to the diversity of African ethnic groups involved and the different hybridisation processes with Europeans and Amerindians, which have blurred their original genetic inheritances. The Noir Marron in French Guiana are the direct descendants of maroons who escaped from Dutch plantations in the current day Surinam. They represent an original ethnic group with a highly blended culture. Uniparental markers (mtDNA and NRY) coupled with HTLV-1 sequences (env and LTR) were studied to establish the genetic relationships linking them to African American and African populations.ResultsAll genetic systems presented a high conservation of the African gene pool (African ancestry: mtDNA = 99.3%; NRY = 97.6%; HTLV-1 env = 20/23; HTLV-1 LTR = 6/8). Neither founder effect nor genetic drift was detected and the genetic diversity is within a range commonly observed in Africa. Higher genetic similarities were observed with the populations inhabiting the Bight of Benin (from Ivory Coast to Benin). Other ancestries were identified but they presented an interesting sex-bias. Whilst male origins spread throughout the north of the bight (from Benin to Senegal), female origins were spread throughout the south (from the Ivory Coast to Angola).ConclusionsThe Noir Marron are unique in having conserved their African genetic ancestry, despite major cultural exchanges with Amerindians and Europeans through inhabiting the same region for four centuries. Their maroon identity and the important number of slaves deported in this region have maintained the original African diversity. All these characteristics permit to identify a major origin located in the former region of the Gold Coast and the Bight of Benin; regions highly impacted by slavery, from which goes a sex-biased longitudinal gradient of ancestry.

Colonial History and Contemporary Transmission Shape the Genetic Diversity of Hepatitis C Virus Genotype 2 in Amsterdam

“…A recent phylogenetic study suggests that West African hepatitis B virus (HBV) lineages were introduced to Haiti during the peak years of slave movement (1). Similarly, recent studies of human T-cell leukemia virus type 1 (HTLV-1), which sometimes combine human and viral evidence, have indicated that Surinamese, Guyanan, Brazilian, Argentinian, and Peruvian HTLV-1 lineages grouped among West African lineages (3,12,32).…”

Genetic modulators of sickle cell disease in French Guiana: Markers of the slave trade

“…Moreover, the mitochondrial DNA profile of this population is closer to that of Africans than to those of most other African Americans with 99.3% of the haplotypes being of African origin i.e., belonging to haplogroup L lineages. It is closely linked with West African haplogroups (L2a1, L1b, L3d, L3f1), just as their non-recombinant Y chromosome haplotypes (E1b1a7*, E1b1a8*) and HTLV-1 sequence analysis indicate a major origin on the Gold Coast and the Bight of Benin (Brucato et al, 2010).…”

Human Leukocyte Antigen Profiles of Latin American Populations: Differential Admixture and Its Potential Impact on Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation

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