Thursday, 20 February 2014

The African Origins of R1b1 aka V88

The genetic landscape of Equatorial Guinea and the origin and migration routes of the Y chromosome haplogroup R-V88.


Abstract

Human Y chromosomes belonging to the haplogroup R1b1-P25, although very common in Europe, are usually rare in Africa. However, recently published studies have reported high frequencies of this haplogroup in the central-western region of the African continent and proposed that this represents a 'back-to-Africa' migration during prehistoric times. To obtain a deeper insight into the history of these lineages, we characterised the paternal genetic background of a population in Equatorial Guinea, a Central-West African country located near the region in which the highest frequencies of the R1b1 haplogroup in Africa have been found to date. In our sample, the large majority (78.6%) of the sequences belong to subclades in haplogroup E, which are the most frequent in Bantu groups. However, the frequency of the R1b1 haplogroup in our sample (17.0%) was higher than that previously observed for the majority of the African continent. Of these R1b1 samples, nine are defined by the V88 marker, which was recently discovered in Africa. As high microsatellite variance was found inside this haplogroup in Central-West Africa and a decrease in this variance was observed towards Northeast Africa, our findings do not support the previously hypothesised movement of Chadic-speaking people from the North across the Sahara as the explanation for these R1b1 lineages in Central-West Africa. The present findings are also compatible with an origin of the V88-
derived allele in the Central-West Africa, and its 
presence in North Africa may be better explained as the 
result of a migration from the south during the mid-
Holocene.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22892526

PEER REVIEWED

R-V88 IN AFRICA IS WIDELY DISPERSED 

INCOMPATIBLE WITH A BACK MIGRATION

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So there you have it R1B1 originates from central africa and spread north and not from the middle east as a back to africa migration.

1 comment:

  1. As interesting as this finding is, we have a situation where V88 is being discussed on more or less Africa-specific terms. And therefore, there is no premise or conclusion that for example M343 or P25 derived lineages had a coalescence in Africa. Although IF we could infer that though, I think Euros would lose their minds over it haha.... nevetheless it is fascinating:

    From the summary of the full paper, the implications for spread of V88 are "Saharan".
    http://www.nature.com/ejhg/journal/v21/n3/full/ejhg2012167a.html

    >In summary, altogether, our data are compatible with an origin of the V88-derived allele in Central-West Africa and a later migration (or migrations) across the Sahara to North Africa. Assuming this origin for V88, both the ‘Trans-Saharan’ and ‘Inter-Saharan’ hypotheses for the arrival of Chadic groups in the Lake Chad Basin are equally likely, as already described in other studies,8, 46 but this model is also compatible with the dispersion of V88 from Central-West to North Africa, contrary to what was proposed by Cruciani et al.7 Nevertheless, further evidence will be required to support this hypothesis, and additional data are crucial to obtain a deeper understanding of the origin and history of this haplogroup, namely from the populations in the proposed paths of migration<

    Futhermore, from Cruciani (2010)

    Cheers!

    -Duttamachandro Illamahal Xianshan

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