title: Exploring the Y Chromosomal Ancestry of Modern Panamanians.
abstract: Geologically, Panama belongs to the Central American land-bridge between North and South America crossed by Homo sapiens >14 ka ago. Archaeologically, it belongs to a wider Isthmo-Colombian Area. Today, seven indigenous ethnic groups account for 12.3% of Panama's population. Five speak Chibchan languages and are characterized by low genetic diversity and a high level of differentiation. In addition, no evidence of differential structuring between maternally and paternally inherited genes has been reported in isthmian Chibchan cultural groups. Recent data have shown that 83% of the Panamanian general population harbour mitochondrial DNAs (mtDNAs) of Native American ancestry. Considering differential male/female mortality at European contact and multiple degrees of geographical and genetic isolation over the subsequent five centuries, the Y-chromosome Native American component is expected to vary across different geographic regions and communities in Panama. To address this issue, we investigated Y-chromosome variation in 408 modern males from the nine provinces of Panama and one indigenous territory (the comarca of Kuna Yala). In contrast to mtDNA data, the Y-chromosome Native American component (haplogroup Q) exceeds 50% only in three populations facing the Caribbean Sea: the comarca of Kuna Yala and Bocas del Toro province where Chibchan languages are spoken by the majority, and the province of Colón where many Kuna and people of mixed indigenous-African-and-European descent live. Elsewhere the Old World component is dominant and mostly represented by western Eurasian haplogroups, which signal the strong male genetic impact of invaders. Sub-Saharan African input accounts for 5.9% of male haplotypes. This reflects the consequences of the colonial Atlantic slave trade and more recent influxes of West Indians of African heritage. Overall, our findings reveal a local evolution of the male Native American ancestral gene pool, and a strong but geographically differentiated unidirectional sex bias in the formation of local modern Panamanian populations.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology and Biotechnology, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy.
authors.forename: Viola
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Grugni
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology and Biotechnology, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy.
authors.forename: Vincenza
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Battaglia
authors.affiliation: Sorenson Molecular Genealogy Foundation, Salt Lake City, Utah, United States of America.|Department of Chemistry, Biology and Biotechnology, University of Perugia, Perugia, Italy.
authors.forename: Ugo Alessandro
authors.initials: UA
authors.lastname: Perego
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology and Biotechnology, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy.
authors.forename: Alessandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Raveane
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Biology and Biotechnology, University of Perugia, Perugia, Italy.
authors.forename: Hovirag
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Lancioni
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology and Biotechnology, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy.
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Olivieri
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology and Biotechnology, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy.
authors.forename: Luca
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ferretti
authors.affiliation: Sorenson Molecular Genealogy Foundation, Salt Lake City, Utah, United States of America.
authors.forename: Scott R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Woodward
authors.affiliation: Instituto Conmemorativo Gorgas de Estudios de la Salud, Panama City, Panama.
authors.forename: Juan Miguel
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Pascale
authors.affiliation: Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Panama City, Panama.
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Cooke
authors.affiliation: Sorenson Molecular Genealogy Foundation, Salt Lake City, Utah, United States of America.|Ancestry, Provo, Utah, United States of America.
authors.forename: Natalie
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Myres
authors.affiliation: Instituto Conmemorativo Gorgas de Estudios de la Salud, Panama City, Panama.
authors.forename: Jorge
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Motta
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology and Biotechnology, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy.
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Torroni
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology and Biotechnology, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy.|Department of Chemistry, Biology and Biotechnology, University of Perugia, Perugia, Italy.
authors.forename: Alessandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Achilli
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology and Biotechnology, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy.
authors.forename: Ornella
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Semino
mesh_terms: D041322:Chromosomes, Human, Y / Q000235:genetics*; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D007197:Indians, Central American / Q000235:genetics*; D008297:Male; D010176:Panama
chemical_list: D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial