North African Berber and Arab influences in the western Mediterranean revealed by Y-chromosome DNA haplotypes.
We have analyzed Y-chromosome diversity in the western Mediterranean area, examining p49a,f TaqI haplotype V and subhaplotypes Vb (Berber) and Va (Arab). A total of 2,196 unrelated DNA samples, belonging to 22 populations from North Africa and the southern Mediterranean coast of occidental Europe, have been typed. Subhaplotype Vb, predominant in a Berber population of Morocco (63.5%), was also found at high frequencies in southern Portugal (35.9%) and Andalusia (25.4%). The Arab subhaplotype Va, predominant in Algeria (53.9%) and Tunisia (50.6%), was also found at a relatively high frequency in Sicily (23.1%) and Naples (16.4%); its highest frequency in Iberia was in northern Portugal (22.8%) and Andalusia (15.5%). In Iberia there is a gradient of decreasing frequencies in latitude for both subhaplotypes Va and Vb, related to eight centuries of Muslim domination (8th to 15th centuries) in southern Iberia.
Gérard
Nathalie
N
Institute of Molecular Anthropology, 44 rue Monge, 75005 Paris, France.
Berriche
Sala
S
Aouizérate
Annie
A
Diéterlen
Florent
F
Lucotte
Gérard
G
D000352:Africa, Northern; D018912:Arabs / Q000235:genetics*; D041322:Chromosomes, Human, Y / Q000235:genetics*; D004247:DNA / Q000235:genetics*; D014644:Genetic Variation; D005828:Genetics, Population / Q000379:methods*; D006239:Haplotypes / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011174:Portugal; D013030:Spain
D004247:DNA