The Orientalisation of North Africa: New hints from the study of autosomal STRs in an Arab population.
BACKGROUND
Recent genomic analyses suggest that the current North African gene pool was mainly influenced by population flow coming from the East that altered the genetic structure of autochthonous Berber populations. Such genetic flow has not been extensively addressed yet using North African populations of Middle-eastern origin as reference.


OBJECTIVE
To discern the Middle-eastern component in the genetic background of Tunisian Arabs and evaluate the extent of gene flow from the Middle East into North African autochthonous Berber populations.


METHODS
This study has examined 113 Tunisians of well-known Arabian origin from Kairouan region, using 15 autosomal Short Tandem Repeats (STRs) loci.


RESULTS
No deviations from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium were observed and all loci presented high levels of heterozygosity. Principal coordinate and STRUCTURE analyses were consistent in clustering together North African and Middle Eastern populations, likely reflecting the recent gene flow from the East dating back to the Arab conquest period. This demographic migration and the Arabisation process that submerged the original Berber language and customs seems to have be accompanied by substantial gene flow and genetic admixture.


CONCLUSIONS
This study represents an additional step to obtain a comprehensive understanding of the complex demographic history of North African populations.
a Laboratory of Genetics, Immunology and Human Pathology, Faculté de Sciences de Tunis , Université de Tunis El Manar , Tunis, Tunisia.
Sarra
S
Elkamel
a Laboratory of Genetics, Immunology and Human Pathology, Faculté de Sciences de Tunis , Université de Tunis El Manar , Tunis, Tunisia.|b High Institute of Biotechnology, University of Monastir , Monastir , Tunisia.
Lotfi
L
Cherni
c Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde/Institute of Molecular Pathology and Immunology of the University of Porto , Porto , Portugal.
Luis
L
Alvarez
c Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde/Institute of Molecular Pathology and Immunology of the University of Porto , Porto , Portugal.
Sofia L
SL
Marques
c Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde/Institute of Molecular Pathology and Immunology of the University of Porto , Porto , Portugal.|d Faculty of Sciences , University of Porto , Porto , Portugal.
Maria J
MJ
Prata
a Laboratory of Genetics, Immunology and Human Pathology, Faculté de Sciences de Tunis , Université de Tunis El Manar , Tunis, Tunisia.
Sami
S
Boussetta
a Laboratory of Genetics, Immunology and Human Pathology, Faculté de Sciences de Tunis , Université de Tunis El Manar , Tunis, Tunisia.
Amel
A
Benammar-Elgaaied
a Laboratory of Genetics, Immunology and Human Pathology, Faculté de Sciences de Tunis , Université de Tunis El Manar , Tunis, Tunisia.
Houssein
H
Khodjet-El-Khil
D018912:Arabs / Q000235:genetics; D051456:Gene Flow; D014644:Genetic Variation; D006801:Humans; D018895:Microsatellite Repeats; D014416:Tunisia
Arab population; Autosomal STRs; Kairouan; North Africa; Tunisia