The impact of agricultural emergence on the genetic history of African rainforest hunter-gatherers and agriculturalists.
The emergence of agriculture in West-Central Africa approximately 5,000 years ago, profoundly modified the cultural landscape and mode of subsistence of most sub-Saharan populations. How this major innovation has had an impact on the genetic history of rainforest hunter-gatherers-historically referred to as 'pygmies'-and agriculturalists, however, remains poorly understood. Here we report genome-wide SNP data from these populations located west-to-east of the equatorial rainforest. We find that hunter-gathering populations present up to 50% of farmer genomic ancestry, and that substantial admixture began only within the last 1,000 years. Furthermore, we show that the historical population sizes characterizing these communities already differed before the introduction of agriculture. Our results suggest that the first socio-economic interactions between rainforest hunter-gatherers and farmers introduced by the spread of farming were not accompanied by immediate, extensive genetic exchanges and occurred on a backdrop of two groups already differentiated by their specialization in two ecotopes with differing carrying capacities.
1] Unit of Human Evolutionary Genetics, Institut Pasteur, Paris 75015, France [2] Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, URA3012, Paris 75015, France.
Etienne
E
Patin
1] Unit of Human Evolutionary Genetics, Institut Pasteur, Paris 75015, France [2] Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, URA3012, Paris 75015, France.
Katherine J
KJ
Siddle
1] Unit of Human Evolutionary Genetics, Institut Pasteur, Paris 75015, France [2] Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, URA3012, Paris 75015, France.
Guillaume
G
Laval
1] Unit of Human Evolutionary Genetics, Institut Pasteur, Paris 75015, France [2] Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, URA3012, Paris 75015, France.
Hélène
H
Quach
1] Unit of Human Evolutionary Genetics, Institut Pasteur, Paris 75015, France [2] Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, URA3012, Paris 75015, France.
Christine
C
Harmant
1] CNRS, MNHN, Université Paris Diderot, Sorbonne Paris Cité, UMR7206, Paris 75005, France [2].
Noémie
N
Becker
IRD, MNHN, CNRS UMR 208, Paris 75005, France.
Alain
A
Froment
Genotyping Platform, Institut Pasteur, Paris 75015, France.
Béatrice
B
Régnault
Genotyping Platform, Institut Pasteur, Paris 75015, France.
Laure
L
Lemée
Department of Human Genetics and Genome Quebec Innovation Centre, McGill University, Montreal, Québec, Canada H3A 1A4.
Simon
S
Gravel
Dynamique du Langage, CNRS UMR 5596, Université Lumière-Lyon 2, Lyon 69007, France.
Jean-Marie
JM
Hombert
Dynamique du Langage, CNRS UMR 5596, Université Lumière-Lyon 2, Lyon 69007, France.
Lolke
L
Van der Veen
Department of Anthropology, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire 03755, USA.
Nathaniel J
NJ
Dominy
1] Department of Anthropology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802, USA [2] Department of Biology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802, USA.
George H
GH
Perry
Centre de Recherche CHU Sainte-Justine, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Qubec, Canada H3T 1C5.
Luis B
LB
Barreiro
CNRS, MNHN, Université Paris Diderot, Sorbonne Paris Cité, UMR7206, Paris 75005, France.
Paul
P
Verdu
CNRS, MNHN, Université Paris Diderot, Sorbonne Paris Cité, UMR7206, Paris 75005, France.
Evelyne
E
Heyer
1] Unit of Human Evolutionary Genetics, Institut Pasteur, Paris 75015, France [2] Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, URA3012, Paris 75015, France.
Lluís
L
Quintana-Murci
D000350:Africa, Central; D000354:Africa, Western; D000383:Agriculture; D065928:Forests