title: Rapid coastal spread of First Americans: novel insights from South America's Southern Cone mitochondrial genomes.
abstract: It is now widely agreed that the Native American founders originated from a Beringian source population ~15-18 thousand years ago (kya) and rapidly populated all of the New World, probably mainly following the Pacific coastal route. However, details about the migration into the Americas and the routes pursued on the continent still remain unresolved, despite numerous genetic, archaeological, and linguistic investigations. To examine the pioneering peopling phase of the South American continent, we screened literature and mtDNA databases and identified two novel mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) clades, here named D1g and D1j, within the pan-American haplogroup D1. They both show overall rare occurrences but local high frequencies, and are essentially restricted to populations from the Southern Cone of South America (Chile and Argentina). We selected and completely sequenced 43 D1g and D1j mtDNA genomes applying highest quality standards. Molecular and phylogeographic analyses revealed extensive variation within each of the two clades and possibly distinct dispersal patterns. Their age estimates agree with the dating of the earliest archaeological sites in South America and indicate that the Paleo-Indian spread along the entire longitude of the American double continent might have taken even <2000 yr. This study confirms that major sampling and sequencing efforts are mandatory for uncovering all of the most basal variation in the Native American mtDNA haplogroups and for clarification of Paleo-Indian migrations, by targeting, if possible, both the general mixed population of national states and autochthonous Native American groups, especially in South America.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Legal Medicine, Innsbruck Medical University, Innsbruck, Austria.
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bodner
authors.forename: Ugo A
authors.initials: UA
authors.lastname: Perego
authors.forename: Gabriela
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Huber
authors.forename: Liane
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Fendt
authors.forename: Alexander W
authors.initials: AW
authors.lastname: Röck
authors.forename: Bettina
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Zimmermann
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Olivieri
authors.forename: Alberto
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gómez-Carballa
authors.forename: Hovirag
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Lancioni
authors.forename: Norman
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Angerhofer
authors.forename: Maria Cecilia
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Bobillo
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Corach
authors.forename: Scott R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Woodward
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Salas
authors.forename: Alessandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Achilli
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Torroni
authors.forename: Hans-Jürgen
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Bandelt
authors.forename: Walther
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Parson
mesh_terms: D004641:Emigration and Immigration / Q000266:history*; D005787:Gene Frequency; D054629:Genome, Mitochondrial; D006239:Haplotypes; D049690:History, Ancient; D006801:Humans; D007199:Indians, South American / Q000235:genetics* / Q000266:history; D016013:Likelihood Functions; D008957:Models, Genetic; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D013020:South America