Mitochondrial genome analysis revises view of the initial peopling of North America

EurekAlert ^ | 28-Jun-2010 | NA

[neverdem]

Contact: Peggy Calicchia
calicchi@cshl.edu
516-422-4012
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory

Mitochondrial genome analysis revises view of the initial peopling of North America June 29, 2010 – The initial peopling of North America from Asia occurred approximately 15,000-18,000 years ago, however estimations of the genetic diversity of the first settlers have remained inaccurate. In a report published online today in Genome Research (www.genome.org), researchers have found that the diversity of the first Americans has been significantly underestimated, underscoring the importance of comprehensive sampling for accurate analysis of human migrations.

Substantial evidence suggests that humans first crossed into North America from Asia over a land bridge called Beringia, connecting eastern Siberia and Alaska. Genetic studies have shed light on the initial lineages that entered North America, distinguishing the earliest Native American groups from those that arrived later. However, a clear picture of the number of initial migratory events and routes has been elusive due to incomplete analysis.

In this work, an international group of researchers coordinated by Antonio Torroni of the University of Pavia in Italy performed a detailed mitochondrial genome analysis of a poorly characterized lineage known as C1d. Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) is passed down through the maternal lineage, and mtDNA sequence markers are extremely useful tools for mapping ancestry. Similar to other haplogroups that were among the first to arrive in North America, C1d is distributed throughout the continent, suggesting that it may have been also present in the initial founding populations. However, C1d has not been well represented in previous genetic analyses, and the estimated age of approximately 7,000 years, much younger than the other founding haplogroups, was likely inaccurate.

To resolve these inconsistent lines of evidence, the group sequenced and analyzed 63 C1d mtDNA genomes from throughout the Americas. This high-resolution study not only confirmed that C1d was one of the founding lineages in North America 15,000 to 18,000 years ago, but revealed another critical insight. "These first female American founders carried not one but two different C1d genomes," said Ugo Perego of the Sorenson Molecular Genealogy Foundation and primary author of the study, "thus further increasing the number of recognized maternal lineages from Beringia."

These findings raise the number of founding maternal lineages in North America to fifteen. Furthermore, this work emphasizes the critical need for comprehensive analysis of relevant populations to gather a complete picture of migratory events.

Alessandro Achilli of the University of Perugia, a coauthor of the report, suggests that the number of distinct mitochondrial genomes that passed from Asian into North America is probably much higher. "These yet undiscovered maternal lineages will be identified within the next three to four years," Achilli noted, "when the methodological approach that we used in our study will be systematically applied."

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Scientists from the Sorenson Molecular Genealogy Foundation (Salt Lake City, UT), the University of Pavia (Pavia, Italy), the University of Perugia (Perugia, Italy), the University of Santiago de Compostela, (Santiago de Compostela, Spain), Innsbruck Medical University (Innsbruck, Austria), and the University of Beunos Aries (Buenos Aires, Argentina).

This work was supported by the Sorenson Molecular Genealogy Foundation, Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación, Fundación de Investigación Médica Mutua Madrileña, the FWF Austrian Science Fund, Progetti Ricerca Interesse Nazionale (Italian Ministry of the University), and Fondazione Alma Mater Ticinensis.

Media contacts:

Ugo Perego is available for more information by contacting Jacob Moon at the Sorenson Molecular Genealogy Foundation Public Relations Office (+1-801-490-1017; jacob@methodcommunications.com). Antonio Torroni, PhD is available for more information by contacting Grazia Bruttocao at the University of Pavia Press Office (+39-0382-984531, grazia.bruttocao@unipv.it). Alessandro Achilli, PhD is available for more information by contacting Laura Marozzi at the University of Perugia Press Office (+39-075-585-2202, lmarozzi@unipg.it).

Interested reporters may obtain copies of the manuscript from Peggy Calicchia, Editorial Secretary, Genome Research (calicchi@cshl.edu; +1-516-422-4012).

About the article:

The manuscript will be published online ahead of print on June 29, 2010. Its full citation is as follows: Perego UA, Angerhofer N, Pala M, Olivieri A, Lancioni H, Hooshiar Kashani B, Carossa V, Ekins JE, Gómez-Carballa A, Huber G, Zimmermann B, Corach D, Babudri N, Panara F, Myres NM, Parson W, Semino O, Salas A, Woodward SR, Achilli A, Torroni A. The initial peopling of the Americas: A growing number of founding mitochondrial genomes from Beringia. Genome Res doi:10.1101/gr.109231.110.

About Genome Research:

Launched in 1995, Genome Research (www.genome.org) is an international, continuously published, peer-reviewed journal that focuses on research that provides novel insights into the genome biology of all organisms, including advances in genomic medicine. Among the topics considered by the journal are genome structure and function, comparative genomics, molecular evolution, genome-scale quantitative and population genetics, proteomics, epigenomics, and systems biology. The journal also features exciting gene discoveries and reports of cutting-edge computational biology and high-throughput methodologies.

About Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press:

Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory is a private, nonprofit institution in New York that conducts research in cancer and other life sciences and has a variety of educational programs. Its Press, originating in 1933, is the largest of the Laboratory's five education divisions and is a publisher of books, journals, and electronic media for scientists, students, and the general public.

Genome Research issues press releases to highlight significant research studies that are published in the journal.

[Little Bill]

I have always been curious about this. My mother is AB, my fathers family and all my kids are O+ as were my dear Exes, Polish Lithuanian.

My Mother is also dark skinned, brown eyed, all her family is light skinned and blond to brownish, looks Southern European in a harpish kind of way, her whole family come from Northern Ireland and have been there since Christ, I am luring her up to my house for a DNA sample, a mystery to be solved.

[MurrietaMadman]

Thanks, gg. What a wonderful response. Made me remember the true value of FR and why it’s worth the contribution.

God bless you and yours.

[SunkenCiv]

Mom is AB... dad is O... that means you’re either A or B (depending on which half of your mom’s chromosome 9 you got), but managed to not pass on that half of your own chromosome 9, but the half you got from your dad. :’)

[SunkenCiv]

Oh, the dark skinned brown eyed thing, could be anything. There were small waves of Spanish immigrants into the British Isles a few different times, mostly during the Reformation, and ending by the early 17th c. "Bloody" Mary I (the daughter of Henry VIII's first wife, who was Katherine of Aragon; KofA had brought along some Spanish-speaking household) had her brief reign of terror, during which she brought in various European nationals, including Spanish clerics, most of whom were a bit quick with the flints. :') Here's an unverified source (based on the layout and font and stuff, I suspect it originated with one Andis Raulins, but I won't swear to it. :') Ethnic group down the left side, columns are bloodtypes by percentage. O was overwhelmingly common among American tribes, but there has been intermarriage for centuries, so the non-coding O gene sequence doesn't show up as strong any longer.

---

Group	O	A	B	AB
Kalmuks	26	23	41	11
Buryats	33	21	38	8
Gypsies (Hungary)	29	27	35	10
Thais	37	22	33	8
Burmese	36	24	33	7
Chuvash	30	29	33	7
Indians (India - General)	37	22	33	7
Ainu (Japan)	17	32	32	18
Chinese-Peking	29	27	32	13
Koreans	28	32	31	10
Vietnamese	42	22	30	5
Tartars	28	30	29	13
Arabs	34	31	29	6
Hindus (Bombay)	32	29	28	11
Philippinos	45	22	27	6
Asian (in USA - General)	40	28	27	5
Chinese-Canton	46	23	25	6
Abyssinians	43	27	25	5
Egyptians	33	36	24	8
Latvians	32	37	24	7
Grand Andamanese	9	60	23	9
Papuas (New Guinea)	41	27	23	9
Eskimos (Greenland)	54	36	23	8
Estonians	34	36	23	8
Russians	33	36	23	8
Japanese	30	38	22	10
Persians	38	33	22	7
Sudanese	62	16	21	0
Poles	33	39	20	9
Lithuanians	40	34	20	6
USA (blacks)	49	27	20	4
Kikuyu (Kenya)	60	19	20	1
Malasians	62	18	20	0
Moros	64	16	20	0
Rumanians	34	41	19	6
Bantus	46	30	19	5
Sardinians	50	26	19	5
Czechs	30	44	18	9
Jews (Poland)	33	41	18	8
Finns	34	41	18	7
Turks	43	34	18	6
Ukranians	37	40	18	6
Fijians	44	34	17	6
Hungarians	36	43	16	5
Serbians	38	42	16	5
Slovaks	42	37	16	5
Bulgarians	32	44	15	8
Nicobarese (Nicobars)	74	9	15	1
Greeks	40	42	14	5
Albanians	38	43	13	6
Armenians	31	50	13	6
Austrians	36	44	13	6
Eskimos (Alaska)	38	44	13	5
Jews (Germany)	42	41	12	5
Georgians	46	37	12	4
Scotts	51	34	12	3
Germans	41	43	11	5
Danes	41	44	11	4
South Africans	45	40	11	4
USA (whites)	45	40	11	4
Italians (Milan)	46	41	11	3
Spanish	38	47	10	5
Swedes	38	47	10	5
Icelanders	56	32	10	3
Irish	52	35	10	3
Brazilians	47	41	9	3
Dutch	45	43	9	3
English	47	42	9	3
Bushmen	56	34	9	2
Norwegians	39	50	8	4
Portuguese	35	53	8	4
Belgians	47	42	8	3
United Kingdom (GB)	47	42	8	3
French	43	47	7	3
Swiss	40	50	7	3
Lapps	29	63	4	4
Basques	51	44	4	1
Indians (USA - General)	79	16	4	1
Hawaiians	37	61	2	1
Mayas	98	1	1	1
Maoris	46	54	1	0
Blackfoot (N. Am. Indian)	17	82	0	1
Aborigines	61	39	0	0
Bororo	100	0	0	0
Navajo (N. Am. Indian)	73	27	0	0
Peru (Indians)	100	0	0	0
Shompen (Nicobars)	100	0	0	0

---

Again, these are current or at least recent values (it sez here) and don't necessarily reflect geographical or ethnic origin, just the recent or current distribution. :') I sorted it in database descending, by B and then AB, because AB wouldn't be around if it weren't for B. :')

[SunkenCiv]

John Mayer? ;’)

[SunkenCiv]

:’)

[Little Bill]

Irish 3%, Scots 3%, England 50/50 A, O, have to look for the WOG in the gene pool.

[marsh2]

My grandchildren had very tall, very short, very slender, chubby, brown eyed, blue eyed, green eyed, big nose, pug nosed, olive skinned, fair skinned, red haired, blond and brown haired parents and grands. Ancestry spreads all over Europe to eastern asia. It has been fun to see what we get. No two are the same it seems. All are beautiful, of course.

I was working on some demographic trend data for my County the other day and it appears that we are growing more and more in the mixed race category. It appears we may eventually be all mixed in together.

[colorado tanker]

That one is not possible, unless of course she had a different father. I was uncharacteristically polite and didn’t mention it. :’)

Required enormous self restraint, eh? :-))

I've seen surveys indicating that sort of thing is more common than most people think. Indeed, during the Victorian era it was thought much more respectable to have an affair with a married woman than an unmarried woman because any children would have a means of support and the marriage prospects of the woman would not be damaged. :-))

[colorado tanker]

I have always understood the modern cracker derived from the baking of hard tack for long sea voyages or military campaigns. It’s just that the cracker has some fat added, which renders it ultimately perishable.

[goat granny]

When most people think of blood dyscraysia that can be fatal to a baby they usually think of the RH factor....My 2 first kids both had AB_O incompatibility.

I was O hubby was A or B (cannot remember which). Now there is no intermixing of my O blood with the baby,(cannot cross the placental barrier) but the baby from conception is foreign to my O type blood and I build up anti-bodies to the few sluffed off AB blood cells that can cross the plantcental barrier & gets into my system....The anti bodies that my system set up to attack the AB blood cells can cross the placental barrier and attack the blood of the baby I am carrying. Baby #2 was in trouble at birth. The anti bodies from me were still attacking his blood. They didn't let the umbilical cord dry up, because they thought they might have to do a complete transfusion on him....Every time they brought him to me he had another toe bandage on as they keep track of how he was fighting off my antibodies and he had a rash all over his body....after 3 days the doctor said he was doing much better and had passed the dangerous time for transfusion...I was told not to have any more children or they would probably not survive...

I had 4 more, but the last one only live 10 hours and had multiple problems....Spina Bifida mylomengesoceil. /sp. paralyzed from the waist down plus other birth defects...that's when I stopped having children...But I figure the last 3 that had no problem were probably O type or God just wanted them here...

sorry for some of the bad spelling...

[BobS]

You also have things like adaptability to the environment. Africans are black for a reason. Swedes,etc. are white for a reason. One skin color absorbs infrared and reflects ultraviolet; the other skin color absorbes ultraviolet and reflects infrared. It takes a long time for that change to happen.

I believe the families on Noah's ark were brown skinned; so wherever they wandered to live they could adapt. Another interesting point is everybody is a cousin to another; maybe 100-10,000 related cousins historically.

The Morman Church started a little study of who is related to who and where they came from many years ago. Well, that little study became a great big study with scientists and historions hired that could go back in time and place before the current borders of countries were created.

It's interesting stuff. I discovered I am Russian, Ukrainian, Polish and German.

[wildbill]

The remaining Mayans in Mexico (and some other Native Americans) have a distinguishing birth mark on their lower back—a purplish spot—called the Mongolian spot which is also found on certain peoples in Mongolia and Polynesia.

[BobS]

I have an A+ blood type. I wish I had type 0 so I could sell a pint of blood for $50. The nurses say drink a pint of beer to get back to normal. That leaves me with money to buy a double quarter pounder with cheese, double fries, and a sixpack of beer to wolf it all down with. And $30 left over.

SO, if I did that before giving blood, the patient in the hospital will feel like he just had a sixpack, a double quarter pounder with cheese and double fries. And hit on the nurses, who will tell the doctor in charge the guy is too healthy to be laying around there. And get discharged.

BTW, that's how to get discharged out of a hospital if you are feeling well. Hit on the cute nurses.

[mad_as_he$$]

First there is tons of science that says you are wrong.

Second if there was not travel on a land bridge that brought peopel here what did?

[mad_as_he$$]

Well actually the overlords brought gates here and turned the natives into slaves. Some think after genetic engineering some not so much. I believe there is evidence of alien influence on Earth. Just not sure what they were up to. Mining seems to be an ancient theme. BTW one of the scrolls found with the Dead Sea Scrolls is made of copper five nines pure. That is difficult today.

[BobS]

People have crossed the Pacific ocean to South America on boats they built a long time ago. Hawaii didn’t just sit there uninhabited. It was a place to eat as much citrus as possible. Then collect water. Fishing must have been easy in those times. Then they got on the counter-clockwise ocean current that got them to SA.

[wardaddy]

lol

[MestaMachine]

No there is not “tons of evidence” that I am wrong. There is tons of evidence that THEY might be PARTIALLY right about their aspect and niche. But to insist that all the inhabitants of this continent crossed over one bridge in one place is ridiculous on its face.
Lenape, their name, means original people. They were here long before anyone stepped foot an that land bridge and for far longer than most people realize.
As I said before, North America has been put to the back of the pack as far as archaeologists are concerned when it SHOULD be in the forefront.
The New Madrid fault is evidence that this continent was once more than one land mass that were involved in such a massive collision they fused into one land mass. So much for your land bridge. But it definitely explains why the Northeasterm peoples developed a far different culture than those from the west which I believed long before this “amazing” discovery...

http://www.archaeology.org/0601/abstracts/earthquakes.html
Jim Price discovers evidence of a prehistoric earthquake at the Towosaghy mound near New Madrid, Missouri.

As Jim Price recalls, at the time it was just another job: Excavate the odd bulge on the east side of the main mound at the Towosaghy site near New Madrid, Missouri, and record the staircase everyone expected him to find. The mound builders of the prehistoric Mississippian culture had put a temple atop the 16-foot-tall earthen structure; logically, they would have built stairs to reach it.

Starting outside the base of the mound, he dug step trenches into the slope. “Here’s what the bulge turned out to be,” he says. “About A.D. 1400, the occupants of the Towosaghy site burned their temple. They took all the debris and dumped it down the side of the mound. There was lots of burned clay—the daub from the wattle-and-daub structure—baked very hard in tremendous quantities.” Mingled with the charcoal and ashes, the University of Missouri archaeologist found ceremonial pottery, ornamental ear spools, and mushroom-shaped labrets designed to be worn in the lower lip.

That the Late Mississippian residents torched and then deliberately trashed their temple was startling enough. But what sent Price straight to the telephone were the sand-filled cracks in the trench. He needed to call a geologist to be sure, but Price immediately suspected the truly astonishing implications: that the violent and devastating earthquakes that rocked the New Madrid area for two years, starting in 1811, were not a singular event. It had happened before and could happen again.

The largest of the 1811 quakes are estimated to have reached 8 on the Richter scale—even stronger than the famous San Francisco quake of 1906. Their epicenter was at New Madrid near the Mississippi River, but there were reports of tremors as far away as Detroit, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, and Charleston. In Boston, the ground shook so hard that the church bells rang. The New Madrid earthquakes overshadow all other midcontinent quakes recorded before or since. Altogether, they surged through more than 5,000 square miles of land—from southern Illinois to northern Arkansas and from eastern Missouri to western Tennessee and Kentucky. Some of that land can’t bear crops to this day, in part because of the “sand blows” left by the eruptions, which covered nearly a thousand square miles and are still clearly visible.

Geologists familiar with the region used to ASSUME that the 1811-1812 New Madrid disaster was no cause for concern to current residents of Illinois, Missouri, Arkansas, Tennessee, and Kentucky. Then in 1989, archaeologist Jim Price took a shovel to a temple mound near New Madrid. And that reassuring picture was abruptly shaken apart.
**********************

See. There is that word, “assume,” again. You know what they say about assume?

[MestaMachine]

“Second if there was not travel on a land bridge that brought peopel here what did?”

Can you open your mind enough to believe that creation is not according to your timeframe or one version of it? Man rose as he was supposed to from creation onward. In its time and in its place. Not as WE decided it did, but as the Creator decided it did. And that to ASSUME that you know the Plan is the heighth of man’s arrogance.