title: Moroccan mitochondrial genetic background suggests prehistoric human migrations across the Gibraltar Strait.
abstract: Migrations into Africa from the Levant have greatly determined the mitochondrial genetic landscape of North Africa. After analyzing samples from North Morocco to Spain, we show that three fourths of the Moroccan individuals belong to Western Eurasian haplogroups and the frequencies of these are much more similar to those of the Iberian Peninsula than to those of the Middle East. This is particularly true for the mitochondrial haplogroups H1, H3 and V, which experienced a late-glacial expansion from this region, that repopulated much of Central and Northern Europe. Iberian Peninsula was also a source for prehistoric migrations to North Africa.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Bioquímica, Biología Molecular y Celular, Universidad de Zaragoza, Spain. taha@unizar.es
authors.forename: Taha
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Rhouda
authors.forename: Diana
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Martínez-Redondo
authors.forename: Aurora
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gómez-Durán
authors.forename: Noureddine
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Elmtili
authors.forename: Mouhamed
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Idaomar
authors.forename: Carmen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Díez-Sánchez
authors.forename: Julio
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Montoya
authors.forename: Manuel José
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: López-Pérez
authors.forename: Eduardo
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ruiz-Pesini
mesh_terms: D000352:Africa, Northern; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial / Q000235:genetics*; D004641:Emigration and Immigration; D005060:Europe; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D008877:Middle East; D008928:Mitochondria / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial