The Orientalisation of North Africa: New hints from the study of autosomal STRs in an Arab population
Background: Recent genomic analyses suggest that the current North African gene pool was mainly influenced by population flow coming from the East that altered the genetic structure of autochthonous Berber populations. Such genetic flow has not been extensively addressed yet using North African popu...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Taylor & Francis Group
2017-02-01
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| Series: | Annals of Human Biology |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03014460.2016.1205135 |
| _version_ | 1827818414319599616 |
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| author | Sarra Elkamel Lotfi Cherni Luis Alvarez Sofia L. Marques Maria J. Prata Sami Boussetta Amel Benammar-Elgaaied Houssein Khodjet-El-Khil |
| author_facet | Sarra Elkamel Lotfi Cherni Luis Alvarez Sofia L. Marques Maria J. Prata Sami Boussetta Amel Benammar-Elgaaied Houssein Khodjet-El-Khil |
| author_sort | Sarra Elkamel |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Background: Recent genomic analyses suggest that the current North African gene pool was mainly influenced by population flow coming from the East that altered the genetic structure of autochthonous Berber populations. Such genetic flow has not been extensively addressed yet using North African populations of Middle-eastern origin as reference. Aim: To discern the Middle-eastern component in the genetic background of Tunisian Arabs and evaluate the extent of gene flow from the Middle East into North African autochthonous Berber populations. Subjects and methods: This study has examined 113 Tunisians of well-known Arabian origin from Kairouan region, using 15 autosomal Short Tandem Repeats (STRs) loci. Results: No deviations from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium were observed and all loci presented high levels of heterozygosity. Principal coordinate and STRUCTURE analyses were consistent in clustering together North African and Middle Eastern populations, likely reflecting the recent gene flow from the East dating back to the Arab conquest period. This demographic migration and the Arabisation process that submerged the original Berber language and customs seems to have be accompanied by substantial gene flow and genetic admixture. Conclusion: This study represents an additional step to obtain a comprehensive understanding of the complex demographic history of North African populations. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T00:47:23Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-c398e71a26b3469d9ec3c94ad48edace |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 0301-4460 1464-5033 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T00:47:23Z |
| publishDate | 2017-02-01 |
| publisher | Taylor & Francis Group |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Annals of Human Biology |
| spelling | doaj.art-c398e71a26b3469d9ec3c94ad48edace2023-09-14T15:29:14ZengTaylor & Francis GroupAnnals of Human Biology0301-44601464-50332017-02-0144218019010.1080/03014460.2016.12051351205135The Orientalisation of North Africa: New hints from the study of autosomal STRs in an Arab populationSarra Elkamel0Lotfi Cherni1Luis Alvarez2Sofia L. Marques3Maria J. Prata4Sami Boussetta5Amel Benammar-Elgaaied6Houssein Khodjet-El-Khil7Université de Tunis El ManarUniversité de Tunis El ManarInstituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde/Institute of Molecular Pathology and Immunology of the University of PortoInstituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde/Institute of Molecular Pathology and Immunology of the University of PortoInstituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde/Institute of Molecular Pathology and Immunology of the University of PortoUniversité de Tunis El ManarUniversité de Tunis El ManarUniversité de Tunis El ManarBackground: Recent genomic analyses suggest that the current North African gene pool was mainly influenced by population flow coming from the East that altered the genetic structure of autochthonous Berber populations. Such genetic flow has not been extensively addressed yet using North African populations of Middle-eastern origin as reference. Aim: To discern the Middle-eastern component in the genetic background of Tunisian Arabs and evaluate the extent of gene flow from the Middle East into North African autochthonous Berber populations. Subjects and methods: This study has examined 113 Tunisians of well-known Arabian origin from Kairouan region, using 15 autosomal Short Tandem Repeats (STRs) loci. Results: No deviations from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium were observed and all loci presented high levels of heterozygosity. Principal coordinate and STRUCTURE analyses were consistent in clustering together North African and Middle Eastern populations, likely reflecting the recent gene flow from the East dating back to the Arab conquest period. This demographic migration and the Arabisation process that submerged the original Berber language and customs seems to have be accompanied by substantial gene flow and genetic admixture. Conclusion: This study represents an additional step to obtain a comprehensive understanding of the complex demographic history of North African populations.http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03014460.2016.1205135autosomal strsnorth africatunisiaarab populationkairouan |
| spellingShingle | Sarra Elkamel Lotfi Cherni Luis Alvarez Sofia L. Marques Maria J. Prata Sami Boussetta Amel Benammar-Elgaaied Houssein Khodjet-El-Khil The Orientalisation of North Africa: New hints from the study of autosomal STRs in an Arab population Annals of Human Biology autosomal strs north africa tunisia arab population kairouan |
| title | The Orientalisation of North Africa: New hints from the study of autosomal STRs in an Arab population |
| title_full | The Orientalisation of North Africa: New hints from the study of autosomal STRs in an Arab population |
| title_fullStr | The Orientalisation of North Africa: New hints from the study of autosomal STRs in an Arab population |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Orientalisation of North Africa: New hints from the study of autosomal STRs in an Arab population |
| title_short | The Orientalisation of North Africa: New hints from the study of autosomal STRs in an Arab population |
| title_sort | orientalisation of north africa new hints from the study of autosomal strs in an arab population |
| topic | autosomal strs north africa tunisia arab population kairouan |
| url | http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03014460.2016.1205135 |
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