Abstract
The ancestry of the Colombian population comprises a large number of well differentiated Native communities belonging to diverse linguistic groups. In the late fifteenth century, a process of admixture was initiated with the arrival of the Europeans, and several years later, Africans also became part of the Colombian population. Therefore, the genepool of the current Colombian population results from the admixture of Native Americans, Europeans and Africans. This admixture occurred differently in each region of the country, producing a clearly stratified population. Considering the importance of population substructure in both clinical and forensic genetics, we sought to investigate and compare patterns of genetic ancestry in Colombia by studying samples from Native and non-Native populations living in its 5 continental regions: the Andes, Caribe, Amazonia, Orinoquía, and Pacific regions. For this purpose, 46 AIM-Indels were genotyped in 761 non-related individuals from current populations. Previously published genotype data from 214 Colombian Natives from five communities were used for population comparisons. Significant differences were observed between Native and non-Native populations, among non-Native populations from different regions and among Native populations from different ethnic groups. The Pacific was the region with the highest African ancestry, Amazonia harboured the highest Native ancestry and the Andean and Orinoquían regions showed the highest proportion of European ancestry. The Andean region was further sub-divided into 6 sub-regions: North East, Central West, Central East, West, South West and South East. Among these regions, the South West region showed a significantly lower European admixture than the other regions. Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium and variance values of ancestry among individuals within populations showed a potential stratification of the Pacific population.
Highlights
IntroductionColombia occupies the southern extreme of the bridge that connects the two American subcontinents
In a geographic framework, Colombia occupies the southern extreme of the bridge that connects the two American subcontinents
Since prehistorical times, Colombia has been subject to an intense genetic and cultural flow carried by Native American migrations, which resulted in a high diversity of ethnic groups inhabiting the country and to a noticeable heterogeneity between geographic regions [1,2] (DANE censo general 2005; http://www. dane.gov.co)
Summary
Colombia occupies the southern extreme of the bridge that connects the two American subcontinents. Since prehistorical times, Colombia has been subject to an intense genetic and cultural flow carried by Native American migrations, which resulted in a high diversity of ethnic groups inhabiting the country and to a noticeable heterogeneity between geographic regions [1,2] The Caribbean region is clearly differentiated from the remaining regions, and its territory is inhabited by highly diverse ethnic groups These two regions, both before and after the European conquest, were and remain the most densely populated and economically active in the country. The other three natural regions include the Pacific region and the forest area that today corresponds to the Orinoquía and Amazonia regions, which are the largest in the territory but the least populated and least economically developed (DANE censo general 2005)
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