title: Complete mitogenome analysis of indigenous populations in Mexico: its relevance for the origin of Mesoamericans.
abstract: Mesoamerica has an important role in the expansion of Paleoamericans as the route to South America. In this study, we determined complete mitogenome sequences of 113 unrelated individuals from two indigenous populations of Mesoamerica, Mazahua and Zapotec. All newly sequenced mitogenomes could be classified into haplogroups A2, B2, C1 and D1, but one sequence in Mazahua was D4h3a, a subclade of haplogroup D4. This haplogroup has been mostly found in South America along the Pacific coast. Haplogroup X2a was not found in either population. Genetic similarity obtained using phylogenetic tree construction and principal component analysis showed that these two populations are distantly related to each other. Actually, the Mazahua and the Zapotec shared no sequences (haplotypes) in common, while each also showed a number of unique subclades. Surprisingly, Zapotec formed a cluster with indigenous populations living in an area from central Mesoamerica to Central America. By contrast, the Mazahua formed a group with indigenous populations living in external areas, including southwestern North America and South America. This intriguing genetic relationship suggests the presence of two paleo-Mesoamerican groups, invoking a scenario in which one group had expanded into South America and the other resided in Mesoamerica.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, Graduate School of Science, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Fuzuki
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Mizuno
authors.affiliation: School of Advanced Sciences, The Graduate University for Advanced Studies, Hayama, Kanagawa, Japan.
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gojobori
authors.affiliation: School of Medicine, Hanzhou Normal University, Zhejiang, China.
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, Graduate School of Science, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Keisuke
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Onishi
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of International Cultural Studies, Aichi Prefectural University, Aichi, Japan.
authors.forename: Saburo
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sugiyama
authors.affiliation: Department of Transplants, Instituto Nacional de Ciencias Médicas y Nutrición Salvador Zubirán, Mexico City, Mexico.
authors.forename: Julio
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Granados
authors.affiliation: Molecular Genetics Laboratory, National Institute of Anthropology and History, Mexico City, Mexico.
authors.forename: Celta
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Gomez-Trejo
authors.affiliation: Molecular Genetics Laboratory, National Institute of Anthropology and History, Mexico City, Mexico.
authors.forename: Víctor
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Acuña-Alonzo
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, Graduate School of Science, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Shintaroh
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ueda
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D044467:American Indian or Alaska Native / Q000235:genetics*; D005006:Ethnicity / Q000235:genetics*; D005787:Gene Frequency; D005828:Genetics, Population; D054629:Genome, Mitochondrial; D023281:Genomics; D005843:Geography; D006239:Haplotypes; D006801:Humans; D008800:Mexico; D010802:Phylogeny; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA