An X-linked haplotype of Neandertal origin is present among all non-African populations.
Recent work on the Neandertal genome has raised the possibility of admixture between Neandertals and the expanding population of Homo sapiens who left Africa between 80 and 50 Kya (thousand years ago) to colonize the rest of the world. Here, we provide evidence of a notable presence (9% overall) of a Neandertal-derived X chromosome segment among all contemporary human populations outside Africa. Our analysis of 6,092 X-chromosomes from all inhabited continents supports earlier contentions that a mosaic of lineages of different time depths and different geographic provenance could have contributed to the genetic constitution of modern humans. It indicates a very early admixture between expanding African migrants and Neandertals prior to or very early on the route of the out-of-Africa expansion that led to the successful colonization of the planet.
Research Center, CHU Sainte-Justine, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Québec, Canada.
Vania
V
Yotova
Jean-Francois
JF
Lefebvre
Claudia
C
Moreau
Elias
E
Gbeha
Kristine
K
Hovhannesyan
Stephane
S
Bourgeois
Sandra
S
Bédarida
Luisa
L
Azevedo
Antonio
A
Amorim
Tamara
T
Sarkisian
Patrice Hodonou
PH
Avogbe
Nicodeme
N
Chabi
Mamoudou Hama
MH
Dicko
Emile Sabiba
ES
Kou' Santa Amouzou
Ambaliou
A
Sanni
June
J
Roberts-Thomson
Barry
B
Boettcher
Rodney J
RJ
Scott
Damian
D
Labuda
D000349:Africa; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D004641:Emigration and Immigration; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D005787:Gene Frequency; D050172:Genes, X-Linked; D014644:Genetic Variation; D006239:Haplotypes; D015186:Hominidae / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D044469:Racial Groups / Q000235:genetics*