TRIBAL AFFINITIES OF ARGENTINEAN AND OTHER SOUTHERN SOUTH AMERINDIANS INFERRED FROM MQ3 Y-STR HAPLOTYPES

CECILIA BOBILLO; MARINO, MIGUEL; ALECHINE, EVGUENIA; ANDREA SALA; CORACH DANIEL

Ancona-Italia

Workshop; 6th International Y Chromosome User Workshop "DNA in Forensics 2008" Congress.; 2008

Y Chromosome User -Scientific Commite

America was the last piece of continental land to be settled by the modern humans. Its arrival occurred within a period ranging between 18,000 to 25,000 years before present. Siberian male immigrants were characterized by a particular mutation in their Y-chromosome: MQ3. In addition, within the entering population, males and females denoted at least four clearly defined sets of nucleotide substitutions in their mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) that defines haplogroups A, B, C and D. Both non-recombining sets of polymorphisms represent valuable ethnic markers. These probed to be highly informative for establishing genetic affinities between aboriginal populations and differences with those relatively recent immigrants, mostly European and African. During a period of less than twenty generation, the overall demography of the Americas dramatically changed. Within this short span of time a drastic reduction of aboriginal male lineages is supposed to have taken place. Tribal affinities of five Argentinean aboriginal groups, represented by nine populations were investigated. Unrelated male individuals (N=256) displaying the mutation MQ3 at locus DYS199 were analyzed. The donors belonged to five ethnicities including: M´Byá-guaraní, Pilaga, Wichi, Toba and Mapuche, representing four linguistic sub-branches. YHRD minimal haplotype was employed as typing criterion. Population structure and comparison were evaluated by AMOVA and genetic distance estimations. Cluster analysis produced concordant results with those emerging from linguistic evaluation. Comparisons performed with previously published data allowed us to propose a South American ethnic group affinities map, witch showed good agreement with the linguistic information available.