Bahri R, Esteban E, Moral P, Chaabani H
Laboratoire de Génétique Humaine et d'Anthropologie, Faculté de Pharmacie de Monastir, Université de Monastir 5000 Monastir, Tunisia.
Ann Hum Biol. 2008 Jan-Feb;35(1):22-33. doi: 10.1080/03014460701753729.
Among polymorphisms of non-transcribed DNA sequences and functional genes, those of Alu insertions and that of the APOE gene have been widely used to clarify the degree of genetic relationships between human populations.
APOE gene and eight Alu insertion polymorphisms were investigated in Tunisians and compared with data from neighbour populations in order to gain new insights into the genetic position of Tunisia in the Mediterranean region.
A total of 121 individuals from the North and Centre-South regions were sampled.
No significant genetic differences were found between Tunisians and North Africans when samples representative of wide areas were considered. APOE gene variation seemed slightly less powerful than the Alu polymorphisms in detecting North-South Mediterranean differences.
North African populations show a substantial degree of genetic homogeneity, which may reflect the similarity of their origins, mainly when samples from large geographical areas are compared. The relative genetic homogeneity of the whole Mediterranean region probably reflects a common origin and/or remarkable levels of gene flow. However, this gene flow has not yet erased the differentiation between the two Mediterranean shores, as revealed by Alu insertion polymorphisms.
在非转录DNA序列和功能基因的多态性中，Alu插入多态性和载脂蛋白E（APOE）基因多态性已被广泛用于阐明人群之间的遗传关系程度。
对突尼斯人群的APOE基因和8种Alu插入多态性进行研究，并与邻近人群的数据进行比较，以便对突尼斯在地中海地区的遗传位置有新的认识。
从北部和中南部地区共采集了121名个体的样本。
当考虑代表广泛区域的样本时，突尼斯人与北非人之间未发现显著的遗传差异。在检测地中海地区南北差异方面，APOE基因变异似乎比Alu多态性的作用稍弱。
北非人群表现出相当程度的遗传同质性，这可能反映了他们起源的相似性，主要是在比较来自大地理区域的样本时。整个地中海地区相对的遗传同质性可能反映了共同的起源和/或显著的基因流动水平。然而，正如Alu插入多态性所揭示的，这种基因流动尚未消除地中海两岸之间的差异。
