Mitochondrial DNA diversity and evolutionary history of native human populations of Northwest Patagonia (Argentina)

POSTILLONE, MARÍA BÁRBARA; COBOS VIRGINIA A.; URRUTIA CELMIRA; DEJEAN, CRISTINA B.; GONZALEZ PAULA N.; PEREZ SERGIO IVAN; BERNAL VALERIA

HUMAN BIOLOGY

WAYNE STATE UNIV PRESS

Lugar: Detroit; Año: 2020

0018-7143

AbstractObjectives: The genetic composition of Amerindian descendants from Patagonia has long been a focusof interest, although the information available is still scarce for many geographic areas. Here, we reportthe first analysis of the variation in the mtDNA control region for an area of northwestern Patagonia, theNorth of Neuquén, with the aim of studying the processes and historical events that modeled theevolutionary history of these human groups.Material and methods: We analyzed 113 individuals from two localities of northern Neuquén, along with 6from southern Neuquén and 223 mtDNA sequences previously published from neighboring areas fromArgentina and Chile. We estimated the haplotypic variation and spatial structure of molecular variability.Results: Amerindian subhaplogroups predominate in the two samples from northern Neuquén (N= 70),being D1g and C1b13 the most represented, although in different proportion. These samples exhibitAmerindian mtDNA haplotypes similar to the variants from neighboring areas. Most of haplotypevariability is observed within group, while variation among groups is relatively low and scarcelyassociated to geographical space.Discussion: The most frequent subhaplogroups in northern Neuquén are characteristic of nativepopulations from Patagonia and Chilean Araucania, and probably originated in the region during the LatePleistocene or Early Holocene. However, the spatial variation of mtDNA haplotypes departs from alatitudinal pattern and suggests differential levels of gene flow among areas during the Late Holocene;with moderate levels across the North of Neuquén as well as between this area and neighbouringpopulations from Chile and the South of Neuquén and Río Negro