title: Niger-Congo speaking populations and the formation of the Brazilian gene pool: mtDNA and Y-chromosome data.
abstract: We analyzed sequence variation in the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) hypervariable segment I (HVS-I) from 201 Black individuals from two Brazilian cities (Rio de Janeiro and Porto Alegre), and compared these data with published information from 21 African populations. A subset of 187 males of the sample was also characterized for 30 Y-chromosome biallelic polymorphisms, and the data were compared with those from 48 African populations. The mtDNA data indicated that respectively 69% and 82% of the matrilineages found in Rio de Janeiro and Porto Alegre originated from West-Central/Southeast Africa. These estimates are in close agreement with historical records which indicated that most of the Brazilian slaves who arrived in Rio de Janeiro were from West-Central Africa. In contrast to mtDNA, Y-chromosome haplogroup analysis did not allow discrimination between places of origin in West or West-Central Africa. Thus, when comparing these two major African regions, there seems to be higher genetic structure with mtDNA than with Y-chromosome data.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Genética, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, 91501-970 Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.
authors.forename: Tábita
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hünemeier
authors.forename: Cláudia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Carvalho
authors.forename: Andrea Rita
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Marrero
authors.forename: Francisco Mauro
authors.initials: FM
authors.lastname: Salzano
authors.forename: Sérgio Danilo Junho
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Pena
authors.forename: Maria Cátira
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Bortolini
mesh_terms: D000350:Africa, Central; D000354:Africa, Western; D044383:Black People / Q000235:genetics; D001938:Brazil; D041322:Chromosomes, Human, Y / Q000235:genetics*; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial / Q000235:genetics*; D018740:Genetic Heterogeneity; D014644:Genetic Variation; D005828:Genetics, Population; D006239:Haplotypes; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D044465:White People / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial