HLA genes in Southern Tunisians (Ghannouch area) and their relationship with other Mediterraneans.
South Tunisian HLA gene profile has studied for the first time. HLA-A, -B, -DRB1 and -DQB1 allele frequencies of Ghannouch have been compared with those of neighboring populations, other Mediterraneans and Sub-Saharans. Their relatedness has been tested by genetic distances, Neighbor-Joining dendrograms and correspondence analyses. Our HLA data show that both southern from Ghannouch and northern Tunisians are of a Berber substratum in spite of the successive incursions (particularly, the 7th-8th century A.D. Arab invasion) occurred in Tunisia. It is also the case of other North Africans and Iberians. This present study confirms the relatedness of Greeks to Sub-Saharan populations. This suggests that there was an admixture between the Greeks and Sub-Saharans probably during Pharaonic period or after natural catastrophes (dryness) occurred in Sahara.
National Blood Transfusion Centre, Tunis, Tunisia.
A
A
Hajjej
S
S
Hmida
H
H
Kaabi
A
A
Dridi
A
A
Jridi
A
A
El Gaa l ed
K
K
Boukef
D000352:Africa, Northern; D005006:Ethnicity; D005787:Gene Frequency; D014644:Genetic Variation; D005828:Genetics, Population; D006239:Haplotypes; D006649:Histocompatibility Antigens; D015395:Histocompatibility Antigens Class I / Q000235:genetics*; D000949:Histocompatibility Antigens Class II / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D015810:Linkage Disequilibrium; D019083:Mediterranean Region / Q000453:epidemiology; D010802:Phylogeny; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D014416:Tunisia / Q000453:epidemiology
D006649:Histocompatibility Antigens; D015395:Histocompatibility Antigens Class I; D000949:Histocompatibility Antigens Class II