title: Shorter telomere length in Europeans than in Africans due to polygenetic adaptation.
abstract: Leukocyte telomere length (LTL), which reflects telomere length in other somatic tissues, is a complex genetic trait. Eleven SNPs have been shown in genome-wide association studies to be associated with LTL at a genome-wide level of significance within cohorts of European ancestry. It has been observed that LTL is longer in African Americans than in Europeans. The underlying reason for this difference is unknown. Here we show that LTL is significantly longer in sub-Saharan Africans than in both Europeans and African Americans. Based on the 11 LTL-associated alleles and genetic data in phase 3 of the 1000 Genomes Project, we show that the shifts in allele frequency within Europe and between Europe and Africa do not fit the pattern expected by neutral genetic drift. Our findings suggest that differences in LTL within Europeans and between Europeans and Africans is influenced by polygenic adaptation and that differences in LTL between Europeans and Africans might explain, in part, ethnic differences in risks for human diseases that have been linked to LTL.
authors.affiliation: Department of Genetics and Center of Excellence in Environmental Toxicology, School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
authors.forename: Matthew E B
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Hansen
authors.affiliation: Department of Genetic Medicine, Weill Cornell Medical College, Doha, Qatar, Cardiovascular Genetics Division, University of Utah School of Medicine, Salt Lake City, UT 84108, USA.
authors.forename: Steven C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Hunt
authors.affiliation: The Center of Human Development and Aging, New Jersey Medical School, Rutgers, Newark, NJ 07103, USA.
authors.forename: Rivka C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Stone
authors.affiliation: The Center of Human Development and Aging, New Jersey Medical School, Rutgers, Newark, NJ 07103, USA.
authors.forename: Kent
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Horvath
authors.affiliation: The Center of Human Development and Aging, New Jersey Medical School, Rutgers, Newark, NJ 07103, USA.
authors.forename: Utz
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Herbig
authors.affiliation: Department of Genetics and.
authors.forename: Alessia
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ranciaro
authors.affiliation: Department of Genetics and.
authors.forename: Jibril
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hirbo
authors.affiliation: Department of Genetics and.
authors.forename: William
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Beggs
authors.affiliation: Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Department of Epidemiology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98109, USA.
authors.forename: Alexander P
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Reiner
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology and Biophysics, University of Mississippi, Jackson, MS 38677, USA.
authors.forename: James G
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Wilson
authors.affiliation: The Center of Human Development and Aging, New Jersey Medical School, Rutgers, Newark, NJ 07103, USA.
authors.forename: Masayuki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kimura
authors.affiliation: Program in Genetic Epidemiology and Statistical Genetics, Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
authors.forename: Immaculata
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: De Vivo
authors.affiliation: Program in Genetic Epidemiology and Statistical Genetics, Department of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
authors.forename: Maxine M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Epidemiology Unit, Hebrew University-Hadassah School of Public Health and Community Medicine, Jerusalem 9112001, Israel.
authors.forename: Jeremy D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Kark
authors.affiliation: Framingham Heart Study, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, Framingham, MA 01702, USA and.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Levy
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences, Dares Salaam 35091, Tanzania.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nyambo
authors.affiliation: Department of Genetics and Department of Biology, School of Arts and Sciences, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
authors.forename: Sarah A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Tishkoff
authors.affiliation: The Center of Human Development and Aging, New Jersey Medical School, Rutgers, Newark, NJ 07103, USA, avivab@njms.rutgers.edu.
authors.forename: Abraham
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Aviv
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American / Q000235:genetics; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000483:Alleles; D044383:Black People / Q000235:genetics; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D040961:Genetic Drift; D006801:Humans; D007962:Leukocytes / Q000166:cytology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D016615:Telomere / Q000235:genetics*; D059505:Telomere Homeostasis / Q000235:genetics*; D059506:Telomere Shortening / Q000235:genetics*; D044465:White People / Q000235:genetics