title: Saami and Berbers--an unexpected mitochondrial DNA link.
abstract: The sequencing of entire human mitochondrial DNAs belonging to haplogroup U reveals that this clade arose shortly after the "out of Africa" exit and rapidly radiated into numerous regionally distinct subclades. Intriguingly, the Saami of Scandinavia and the Berbers of North Africa were found to share an extremely young branch, aged merely approximately 9,000 years. This unexpected finding not only confirms that the Franco-Cantabrian refuge area of southwestern Europe was the source of late-glacial expansions of hunter-gatherers that repopulated northern Europe after the Last Glacial Maximum but also reveals a direct maternal link between those European hunter-gatherer populations and the Berbers.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Genetica e Microbiologia, Università di Pavia, Pavia, Italy.
authors.forename: Alessandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Achilli
authors.forename: Chiara
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Rengo
authors.forename: Vincenza
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Battaglia
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pala
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Olivieri
authors.forename: Simona
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fornarino
authors.forename: Chiara
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Magri
authors.forename: Rosaria
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Scozzari
authors.forename: Nora
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Babudri
authors.forename: A Silvana
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Santachiara-Benerecetti
authors.forename: Hans-Jürgen
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Bandelt
authors.forename: Ornella
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Semino
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Torroni
mesh_terms: D000352:Africa, Northern / Q000208:ethnology; D044383:Black People / Q000235:genetics; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial; D004641:Emigration and Immigration; D005060:Europe; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D005828:Genetics, Population; D006239:Haplotypes; D006801:Humans; D010802:Phylogeny; D012537:Scandinavian and Nordic Countries / Q000208:ethnology; D044465:White People / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial