Estimating European admixture in African Americans by using microsatellites and a microsatellite haplotype (CD4/Alu).
We have analyzed 10 unlinked microsatellites and a linked Alu deletion polymorphism at the CD4 locus in an African American population sample from Chicago (USA). Heterozygosity estimates at the microsatellite loci range from 0.727+/-0.025 (D3S1358) to 0.873+/-0.017 (D18S51), with an average of 0.794+/-0.016. These values are comparable to or higher than those reported for Europeans, with only one exception (D3S1358). The CD4/Alu haplotypic diversity (0.887+/-0.012) is comparable to diversity levels observed in sub-Saharan African populations and is higher than the diversity levels reported in European populations. No consistent pattern of within, between, or multi-locus deviations from Hardy-Weinberg expectations is observed, suggesting a low sub-heterogeneity within the sampled population. We have applied a maximum likelihood method and estimated the proportion of European admixture to the African American gene pool to be 0.26+/-0.02. The narrow confidence interval indicates that allele frequency data from multiple microsatellite loci, whether analyzed independently or as haplotypes, are particularly useful for estimating genetic admixture.
Destro-Bisol
G
G
Department of Animal and Human Biology, University La Sapienza, Roma, Italia. destrobisol@axrma.uniromal.it
Maviglia
R
R
Caglià
A
A
Boschi
I
I
Spedini
G
G
Pascali
V
V
Clark
A
A
Tishkoff
S
S
D001741:Black or African American; D020087:Alu Elements / Q000235:genetics*; D044383:Black People / Q000235:genetics*; D015704:CD4 Antigens / Q000235:genetics*; D005060:Europe; D006239:Haplotypes; D006801:Humans; D015810:Linkage Disequilibrium; D018895:Microsatellite Repeats; D044465:White People / Q000235:genetics*
D015704:CD4 Antigens