Admixture into and within sub-Saharan Africa.
Similarity between two individuals in the combination of genetic markers along their chromosomes indicates shared ancestry and can be used to identify historical connections between different population groups due to admixture. We use a genome-wide, haplotype-based, analysis to characterise the structure of genetic diversity and gene-flow in a collection of 48 sub-Saharan African groups. We show that coastal populations experienced an influx of Eurasian haplotypes over the last 7000 years, and that Eastern and Southern Niger-Congo speaking groups share ancestry with Central West Africans as a result of recent population expansions. In fact, most sub-Saharan populations share ancestry with groups from outside of their current geographic region as a result of gene-flow within the last 4000 years. Our in-depth analysis provides insight into haplotype sharing across different ethno-linguistic groups and the recent movement of alleles into new environments, both of which are relevant to studies of genetic epidemiology.
Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics, Oxford, United Kingdom.
George Bj
0000-0003-4148-6222
GB
Busby
Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics, Oxford, United Kingdom.|Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Cambridge, United Kingdom.
Gavin
G
Band
Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics, Oxford, United Kingdom.
Quang
Q
Si Le
Medical Research Council Unit, Serrekunda, The Gambia.|Royal Victoria Teaching Hospital, Banjul, The Gambia.
Muminatou
M
Jallow
Centre National de Recherche et de Formation sur le Paludisme, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
Edith
E
Bougama
Dipartimento di Sanita Publica e Malattie Infettive, University of Rome La Sapienza, Rome, Italy.
Valentina D
VD
Mangano
Navrongo Health Research Centre, Navrongo, Ghana.
Lucas N
LN
Amenga-Etego
Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, Kumasi, Ghana.
Anthony
A
Enimil
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Buea, Buea, Cameroon.
Tobias
T
Apinjoh
KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Programme, Kilifi, Kenya.
Carolyne M
CM
Ndila
Joint Malaria Programme, Kilimanjaro Christian Medical College, Moshi, Tanzania.|Faculty of Infectious and Tropical Diseases, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, United Kingdom.
Alphaxard
A
Manjurano
Malawi-Liverpool Wellcome Trust Clinical Research Programme, College of Medicine, University of Malawi, Blantyre, Malawi.
Vysaul
V
Nyirongo
Malaria Research and Training Centre, University of Bamako, Bamako, Mali.
Ogobara
O
Doumba
Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics, Oxford, United Kingdom.|Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Cambridge, United Kingdom.
Kirk A
0000-0002-6369-9299
KA
Rockett
Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics, Oxford, United Kingdom.|Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Cambridge, United Kingdom.
Dominic P
DP
Kwiatkowski
Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics, Oxford, United Kingdom.
Chris Ca
CC
Spencer
D017954:Africa South of the Sahara; D044383:Black People; D051456:Gene Flow; D014644:Genetic Variation; D015894:Genome, Human; D006239:Haplotypes; D063426:Human Migration; D006801:Humans
Africa; admixture; chromosome painting; evolutionary biology; gene-flow; genomics; human