TY - JOUR
T1 - Genetic variation of the mitochondrial DNA genome in American Indians is at mutation‐drift equilibrium
AU - Chakraborty, Ranajit
AU - Weiss, Kenneth M.
PY - 1991/12
Y1 - 1991/12
N2 - Several surveys have found evidence for founder effects in Amerindian mitochondrial DNA because of the existence of rare Asian morphs in high frequencies in some Amerindian populations and the occurrence of several new morphs not seen elsewhere in the world. These reports, however, do not address whether or not the present genetic variation in the mtDNA genome in Amerindians has reached the steady‐state distribution predicted by the mutation‐drift theory of population genetics. The present work suggests that in three Amerindian populations (Pima, Maya, and Ticuna) a steady state has apparently been reached, and hence the initial founder effect has probably dissipated during the evolution of Amerindians in the New World. This result is consistent with the genetic variation in nuclear genes in similar populations, shown through surveys of protein variation in earlier work and, more recently, in studies of restriction fragment length polymorphisms.
AB - Several surveys have found evidence for founder effects in Amerindian mitochondrial DNA because of the existence of rare Asian morphs in high frequencies in some Amerindian populations and the occurrence of several new morphs not seen elsewhere in the world. These reports, however, do not address whether or not the present genetic variation in the mtDNA genome in Amerindians has reached the steady‐state distribution predicted by the mutation‐drift theory of population genetics. The present work suggests that in three Amerindian populations (Pima, Maya, and Ticuna) a steady state has apparently been reached, and hence the initial founder effect has probably dissipated during the evolution of Amerindians in the New World. This result is consistent with the genetic variation in nuclear genes in similar populations, shown through surveys of protein variation in earlier work and, more recently, in studies of restriction fragment length polymorphisms.
KW - American Indians
KW - Gene diversity
KW - Maternal gene flow
KW - Mitochondrial DNA
KW - Mutationdrift balance
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0025788166&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1002/ajpa.1330860405
DO - 10.1002/ajpa.1330860405
M3 - Article
C2 - 1776656
AN - SCOPUS:0025788166
SN - 0002-9483
VL - 86
SP - 497
EP - 506
JO - American Journal of Physical Anthropology
JF - American Journal of Physical Anthropology
IS - 4
ER -