Mitochondrial and nuclear variants in a U.S. black population: origins of a hybrid population.
The maternal transmission of mitochondria in higher eukaryotes makes it possible to distinguish between reciprocal matings, since offspring possess the mitochondrial DNA variants received from the mother. This possibility can be extended to hybrid populations, the mitochondrial frequencies reflecting the relative maternal contributions from the parental populations. Nuclear variations reflect the relative genetic contributions of the parental populations, irrespective of parental sex. The U.S. Black population is a hybrid of West African and European populations. The African-European matings that contributed to the present Black population are traditionally considered to have been almost exclusively between African females and European males. We have studied nuclear and mitochondrial variants in a sample of U.S. Blacks, comparing them with published frequencies from African and Caucasian groups. Our results suggest that the mitochondria of present-day American Blacks are derived from Caucasians to an extent similar to nuclear genes. In contrast to traditional beliefs, the contribution from Caucasian females is of the same magnitude as that from Caucasian males.
Department of Zoology, University of Texas, Austin 78712.
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Hsieh
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Sutton
D000328:Adult; D044383:Black People / Q000235:genetics*; D002467:Cell Nucleus; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial / Q000235:genetics*; D015252:Deoxyribonucleases, Type II Site-Specific; D005260:Female; D005819:Genetic Markers; D006801:Humans; D006824:Hybridization, Genetic; D008297:Male; D012150:Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length; D014481:United States; D044465:White People / Q000235:genetics; D001741:Black or African American
D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial; D005819:Genetic Markers; C024406:endodeoxyribonuclease HpaI; D015252:Deoxyribonucleases, Type II Site-Specific