title: Different Evolutionary History for Basque Diaspora Populations in USA and Argentina Unveiled by Mitochondrial DNA Analysis.
abstract: The Basque Diaspora in Western USA and Argentina represents two populations which have maintained strong Basque cultural and social roots in a completely different geographic context. Hence, they provide an exceptional opportunity to study the maternal genetic legacy from the ancestral Basque population and assess the degree of genetic introgression from the host populations in two of the largest Basque communities outside the Basque Country. For this purpose, we analyzed the complete mitochondrial DNA control region of Basque descendants living in Western USA (n = 175) and in Argentina (n = 194). The Diaspora populations studied here displayed a genetic diversity in their European maternal input which was similar to that of the Basque source populations, indicating that not important founder effects would have occurred. Actually, the genetic legacy of the Basque population still prevailed in their present-day maternal pools, by means of a haplogroup distribution similar to the source population characterized by the presence of autochthonous Basque lineages, such as U5b1f1a and J1c5c1. However, introgression of non-Basque lineages, mostly Native American, has been observed in the Diaspora populations, particularly in Argentina, where the quick assimilation of the newcomers would have favored a wider admixture with host populations. In contrast, a longer isolation of the Diaspora groups in USA, because of language and cultural differences, would have limited the introgression of local lineages. This study reveals important differences in the maternal evolutionary histories of these Basque Diaspora populations, which have to be taken into consideration in forensic and medical genetic studies.
authors.affiliation: BIOMICs Research Group, Centro de Investigación "Lascaray" Ikergunea, Universidad del País Vasco UPV/EHU, Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain.
authors.forename: Miriam
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Baeta
authors.affiliation: BIOMICs Research Group, Centro de Investigación "Lascaray" Ikergunea, Universidad del País Vasco UPV/EHU, Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain.
authors.forename: Carolina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Núñez
authors.affiliation: BIOMICs Research Group, Centro de Investigación "Lascaray" Ikergunea, Universidad del País Vasco UPV/EHU, Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain.
authors.forename: Sergio
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Cardoso
authors.affiliation: BIOMICs Research Group, Centro de Investigación "Lascaray" Ikergunea, Universidad del País Vasco UPV/EHU, Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain.
authors.forename: Leire
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Palencia-Madrid
authors.affiliation: BIOMICs Research Group, Centro de Investigación "Lascaray" Ikergunea, Universidad del País Vasco UPV/EHU, Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain.
authors.forename: Sergio
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Piñeiro-Hermida
authors.affiliation: BIOMICs Research Group, Centro de Investigación "Lascaray" Ikergunea, Universidad del País Vasco UPV/EHU, Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain.
authors.forename: Miren
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Arriba-Barredo
authors.affiliation: BIOMICs Research Group, Centro de Investigación "Lascaray" Ikergunea, Universidad del País Vasco UPV/EHU, Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain.
authors.forename: María Jesús
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Villanueva-Millán
authors.affiliation: BIOMICs Research Group, Centro de Investigación "Lascaray" Ikergunea, Universidad del País Vasco UPV/EHU, Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain.
authors.forename: Marian
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: M de Pancorbo
mesh_terms: D001118:Argentina; D005075:Biological Evolution; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000145:classification; D004641:Emigration and Immigration; D008040:Genetic Linkage; D014644:Genetic Variation; D005828:Genetics, Population; D006239:Haplotypes; D006801:Humans; D008928:Mitochondria / Q000235:genetics; D010802:Phylogeny; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D014481:United States; D044465:White People / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial