title: Linking between genetic structure and geographical distance: Study of the maternal gene pool in the Ethiopian population.
abstract: Background The correlation between genetics and geographical distance has already been examined through the study of the dispersion of human populations, especially in terms of uniparental genetic markers. Aim The present work characterises, at the level of the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), two new samples of Amhara and Oromo populations from Ethiopia to evaluate the possible pattern of distribution for mtDNA variation and to test the hypothesis of the Isolation-by-Distance (IBD) model among African, European and Middle-Eastern populations. Subjects and methods This study analysed 173 individuals belonging to two ethnic groups of Ethiopia, Amhara and Oromo, by assaying HVS-I and HVS-II of mtDNA D-loop and informative coding region SNPs of mtDNA. Results The analysis suggests a relationship between genetic and geographic distances, affirming that the mtDNA pool of Africa, Europe and the Middle East might be coherent with the IBD model. Moreover, the mtDNA gene pools of the Sub-Saharan African and Mediterranean populations were very different. Conclusion In this study the pattern of mtDNA distribution, beginning with the Ethiopian plateau, was tested in the IBD model. It could be affirmed that, on a continent scale, the mtDNA pool of Africa, Europe and the Middle East might fall under the IBD model.
authors.affiliation: a Center of Molecular Anthropology for Ancient DNA Study, Department of Biology , University of Rome 'Tor Vergata' , Via della Ricerca Scientifica n. 1 , 00133 Rome , Italy.
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Messina
authors.affiliation: a Center of Molecular Anthropology for Ancient DNA Study, Department of Biology , University of Rome 'Tor Vergata' , Via della Ricerca Scientifica n. 1 , 00133 Rome , Italy.
authors.forename: Giuseppina
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Scano
authors.affiliation: a Center of Molecular Anthropology for Ancient DNA Study, Department of Biology , University of Rome 'Tor Vergata' , Via della Ricerca Scientifica n. 1 , 00133 Rome , Italy.
authors.forename: Irene
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Contini
authors.affiliation: a Center of Molecular Anthropology for Ancient DNA Study, Department of Biology , University of Rome 'Tor Vergata' , Via della Ricerca Scientifica n. 1 , 00133 Rome , Italy.
authors.forename: Cristina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Martínez-Labarga
authors.affiliation: a Center of Molecular Anthropology for Ancient DNA Study, Department of Biology , University of Rome 'Tor Vergata' , Via della Ricerca Scientifica n. 1 , 00133 Rome , Italy.
authors.forename: Gian Franco
authors.initials: GF
authors.lastname: De Stefano
authors.affiliation: a Center of Molecular Anthropology for Ancient DNA Study, Department of Biology , University of Rome 'Tor Vergata' , Via della Ricerca Scientifica n. 1 , 00133 Rome , Italy.
authors.forename: Olga
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Rickards
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial / Q000235:genetics; D005002:Ethiopia; D005260:Female; D005788:Gene Pool; D014644:Genetic Variation; D005828:Genetics, Population; D005843:Geography; D006239:Haplotypes / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D016366:Open Reading Frames / Q000235:genetics; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide / Q000235:genetics; D025341:Principal Component Analysis
chemical_list: D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial
keywords: Ethiopia; Horn of Africa; Isolation-by-Distance; mtDNA