title: Y-chromosome analysis in a Northwest Iberian population: unraveling the impact of Northern African lineages.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To provide new clues about the genetic origin, composition and structure of the population of the Spanish province of Zamora, with an emphasis on the genetic impact of the period of Islamic rule in the Iberian Peninsula.
  
  
  METHODS
  Polymorphisms in the paternally inherited Y-chromosome, Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms and Short Tandem Repeats, were analyzed in 235 unrelated males born in six different regions in the Zamora province.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A relatively homogenous Y-chromosome haplogroup composition was observed in the Zamora province. Haplogroups R1b1-P25 and I-M170, widespread in European populations, accounted for 64.9% of the total sample. Moreover, all of the observed African lineages, accounting for 10.2% of the total variability, belonged to haplogroups having Northwest African origin (E1b1b1b-M81, E1b1b1a-β-M78, and J1-M267).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  No differences between regions or sub-structure due to geographical boundaries were detected. The specific Northwest African male lineages observed contrast with the mitochondrial DNA data, where the majority of African lineages were found to be sub-Saharan. This work made it possible to study the impact of recent historical events in the male gene pool in the province of Zamora in Spain.
authors.affiliation: Unitat Antropologia Biològica, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193, Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain; IPATIMUP, Institute of Molecular Pathology and Immunology of the University of Porto, 4200-465, Porto, Portugal.
authors.forename: Luis
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Alvarez
authors.forename: Estela
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ciria
authors.forename: Sofia L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Marques
authors.forename: Cristina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Santos
authors.forename: Maria Pilar
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Aluja
mesh_terms: D000462:Algeria; D044383:Black People / Q000235:genetics*; D041322:Chromosomes, Human, Y / Q000235:genetics*; D005828:Genetics, Population; D006239:Haplotypes; D006801:Humans; D008002:Libya; D008297:Male; D018895:Microsatellite Repeats; D009018:Morocco; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D013030:Spain; D014416:Tunisia; D044465:White People / Q000235:genetics*