title: Alu polymorphisms in Jerba Island population (Tunisia): comparative study in Arab and Berber groups.
abstract: Jerba Island represents an interesting area because four distinct ethnic groups have been cohabiting there until now: Arabs, Berbers, dark-skinned people of sub-Saharan origin and Jews. Religious and cultural differences seem to have constituted an obstacle to their intermixing. Our aim is to provide further information on the genetic structure of the Arab and Berber groups for whom previous data based on haploid markers confirmed their reproductive isolation. Five polymorphic Alu markers (HS 4.69, Sb 19.3, TPA-25, ACE and APO-A1) were analysed in a sample of 43 Arabs and 48 Berbers of Jerba. The genetic relationships among these groups and several populations from North Africa, sub-Saharan Africa and Europe were analysed using genetic distances based on allele frequencies. The results showed a homogeneous distribution of Alu insertions in the two geographically close groups, reflecting ancient relationships between them. This study also revealed that Arabs from Jerba present close genetic distances to other North African populations, whilst Berbers of Jerba occupy an intermediate position among Mediterranean populations.
authors: Laboratory of Genetics, Immunology and Human Pathologies, Faculty of Sciences of Tunis, Tunis, Tunisia. ennafaahajer@yahoo.fr
authors: Hajer
authors: H
authors: Ennafaa
authors: Mohamed Ben
authors: MB
authors: Amor
authors: Besma
authors: B
authors: Yacoubi-Loueslati
authors: Hussein
authors: H
authors: Khodjet el-khil
authors: Emili
authors: E
authors: Gonzalez-Perez
authors: Pedro
authors: P
authors: Moral
authors: Nicole
authors: N
authors: Maca-Meyer
authors: Amel
authors: A
authors: Elgaaied
mesh_terms: D020087:Alu Elements; D018912:Arabs; D044383:Black People; D005006:Ethnicity; D005819:Genetic Markers; D005828:Genetics, Population; D006801:Humans; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D014416:Tunisia; D044465:White People
chemical_list: D005819:Genetic Markers