Abstract
BackgroundThe archeology and history of the ancient Mediterranean have shown that this sea has been a permeable obstacle to human migration. Multiple cultural exchanges around the Mediterranean have taken place with presumably population admixtures. A gravitational territory of those migrations has been the Iberian Peninsula. Here we present a comprehensive analysis of the maternal gene pool, by means of control region sequencing and PCR-RFLP typing, of autochthonous Andalusians originating from the coastal provinces of Huelva and Granada, located respectively in the west and the east of the region.ResultsThe mtDNA haplogroup composition of these two southern Spanish populations has revealed a wide spectrum of haplogroups from different geographical origins. The registered frequencies of Eurasian markers, together with the high incidence and diversification of African maternal lineages (15% of the total mitochondrial variability) among Huelva Andalusians when compared to its eastwards relatives of Granada and other Iberian populations, constitute relevant findings unknown up-to-date on the characteristics of mtDNA within Andalusia that testifies a female population substructure. Therefore, Andalusia must not be considered a single, unique population.ConclusionsThe maternal legacy among Andalusians reflects distinctive local histories, pointing out the role of the westernmost territory of Peninsular Spain as a noticeable recipient of multiple and diverse human migrations. The obtained results underline the necessity of further research on genetic relationships in both sides of the western Mediterranean, using carefully collected samples from autochthonous individuals. Many studies have focused on recent North African gene flow towards Iberia, yet scientific attention should be now directed to thoroughly study the introduction of European genes in northwest Africa across the sea, in order to determine its magnitude, timescale and methods, and to compare them to those terrestrial movements from eastern Africa and southwestern Asia.
Highlights
The archeology and history of the ancient Mediterranean have shown that this sea has been a permeable obstacle to human migration
MtDNA sequence diversity in Andalusians We have found a total of 197 different haplotypes among 279 mtDNA sequences of autochthonous Andalusians
Estimated gene diversity values (H) were similar in western and eastern Andalusians, but a little higher to that found in other mainland Iberian populations (0.95-0.96) [7,16]
Summary
The archeology and history of the ancient Mediterranean have shown that this sea has been a permeable obstacle to human migration. Multiple cultural exchanges around the Mediterranean have taken place with presumably population admixtures. The archeology and history of the ancient Mediterranean have shown that this sea has always been a permeable obstacle to human migration. Its extensive territory of complex relief with a markedly variation among their different regions [3], its intricate history, archeological richness and diverse and persistent sociocultural patterns, justifies the growing scientific interest in knowing the extent of the genetic diversity of contemporary Iberian populations and the impact of migrations on their gene pool ([4,5,6,7,8,9,10], among others). The Cantabrian fringe of northern Iberia along with the east of Andalusia region and the Spanish Levant would have had an important role as refugee areas during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM, ~20 thousand years ago, kya) as well as a source of a posterior European resettlement with the improvement of climatic conditions [11,12]
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