Genetic differences among North African Berber and Arab-speaking populations revealed by Y-STR diversity

Abstract

Y-chromosome STR polymorphisms are inherited in a haploid state which makes them a powerful tool for easy tracing of paternal lineage and for use in human population evolutionary studies. North-African Y chromosomal diversity has traditionally been studied in order to find genetic and geographic associations as well as to test how natural and cultural barriers have affected the degree of genetic flow not only within North Africa but also in a wider Mediterranean context.

The degree of Berber/Arab genetic differentiation in the Moroccan population has been tested for a complete set of forensic markers as sixteen Y-chromosomal short tandem repeats (STRs) (DYS19, DYS385, DYS389I, DYS389II, DYS390, DYS391, DYS392, DYS393, DYS437, DYS438, DYS439, DYS448, DYS456, DYS458, DYS635 and GATA H4.1). The results suggest considerable population heterogeneity in North Africa.

Keywords::

• STRs polymorphisms
• North-African populations
• Y-chromosome
• haplotypes

Acknowledgements

This work has been supported by the Universidad Europea de Madrid (projects OTRI 2006/UEM17 and OTRI 2007/UEM 09). Thanks are expressed to P. Moral for very helpful discussions.

Declaration of interest: The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.