Dipartimento di Biologia Ambientale, Sapienza Università di Roma, P.le Aldo Moro 5, 00185, Rome, Italy.
BMC Evol Biol. 2013 Jan 29;13:24. doi: 10.1186/1471-2148-13-24.
When studying the genetic structure of human populations, the role of cultural factors may be difficult to ascertain due to a lack of formal models. Linguistic diversity is a typical example of such a situation. Patrilocality, on the other hand, can be integrated into a biological framework, allowing the formulation of explicit working hypotheses. The present study is based on the assumption that patrilocal traditions make the hypervariable region I of the mtDNA a valuable tool for the exploration of migratory dynamics, offering the opportunity to explore the relationships between genetic and linguistic diversity. We studied 85 Niger-Congo-speaking patrilocal populations that cover regions from Senegal to Central African Republic. A total of 4175 individuals were included in the study.
By combining a multivariate analysis aimed at investigating the population genetic structure, with a Bayesian approach used to test models and extent of migration, we were able to detect a stepping-stone migration model as the best descriptor of gene flow across the region, with the main discontinuities corresponding to forested areas.
Our analyses highlight an aspect of the influence of habitat variation on human genetic diversity that has yet to be understood. Rather than depending simply on geographic linear distances, patterns of female genetic variation vary substantially between savannah and rainforest environments. Our findings may be explained by the effects of recent gene flow constrained by environmental factors, which superimposes on a background shaped by pre-agricultural peopling.
在研究人类群体的遗传结构时，由于缺乏正式模型，文化因素的作用可能难以确定。语言多样性就是这种情况的一个典型例子。另一方面，父居制可以纳入生物框架，从而可以制定明确的工作假设。本研究基于以下假设：父居传统使 mtDNA 的高变区 I 成为探索迁移动态的有价值工具，为探索遗传和语言多样性之间的关系提供了机会。我们研究了 85 个讲尼日尔-刚果语的父居制群体，这些群体覆盖了从塞内加尔到中非共和国的地区。共有 4175 人纳入研究。
通过将旨在调查人口遗传结构的多元分析与用于测试模型和迁移程度的贝叶斯方法相结合，我们能够检测到一个阶梯式迁移模型，该模型是描述该地区基因流的最佳描述符，主要的不连续对应于森林地区。
我们的分析强调了栖息地变化对人类遗传多样性影响的一个方面，这方面尚未得到理解。女性遗传变异模式不是简单地取决于地理线性距离，而是在稀树草原和雨林环境之间有很大的差异。我们的发现可以用受环境因素限制的近期基因流的影响来解释，这种影响叠加在由史前人口形成的背景之上。
