Pre-Hispanic Mesoamerican demography approximates the present-day ancestry of Mestizos throughout the territory of Mexico.
Over the last 500 years, admixture among Amerindians, Europeans, and Africans, principally, has come to shape the present-day gene pool of Mexicans, particularly Mestizos, who represent about 93% of the total Mexican population. In this work, we analyze the genetic data of 13 combined DNA index system-short tandem repeats (CODIS-STRs) in 1,984 unrelated Mestizos representing 10 population samples from different regions of Mexico, namely North, West, Central, and Southeast. The analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) test demonstrated low but significant differentiation among Mestizos from different regions (F(ST) = 0.34%; P = 0.0000). Although the spatial analysis of molecular variance (SAMOVA) predicted clustering Mestizo populations into four well-delimited groups, the main differentiation was observed between Northwest when compared with Central and Southeast regions. In addition, we included analysis of individuals of Amerindian (Purepechas), European (Huelva, Spain), and African (Fang) origin. Thus, STRUCTURE analysis was performed identifying three well-differentiated ancestral populations (k = 3). STRUCTURE results and admixture estimations by means of LEADMIX software in Mestizo populations demonstrated genetic heterogeneity or asymmetric admixture throughout Mexico, displaying an increasing North-to-South gradient of Amerindian ancestry, and vice versa regarding the European component. Interestingly, this distribution of Amerindian ancestry roughly reflects pre-Hispanic Native-population density, particularly toward the Mesoamerican area. The forensic, epidemiological, and evolutionary implications of these findings are discussed herein.
Rubi-Castellanos
Rodrigo
R
Instituto de Investigación en Genética Molecular, Centro Universitario de la Ciénega, Universidad de Guadalajara, Ocotlán 47810, Jalisco, México.
Martínez-Cortés
Gabriela
G
Muñoz-Valle
José Francisco
JF
González-Martín
Antonio
A
Cerda-Flores
Ricardo M
RM
Anaya-Palafox
Manuel
M
Rangel-Villalobos
Héctor
H
D000704:Analysis of Variance; D044383:Black People / Q000235:genetics; D003710:Demography; D014644:Genetic Variation; D005828:Genetics, Population; D006801:Humans; D007198:Indians, North American / Q000235:genetics*; D016013:Likelihood Functions; D008800:Mexico; D018895:Microsatellite Repeats / Q000235:genetics; D044465:White People / Q000235:genetics