Mayans: a Y Chromosome Perspective

Overview

Journal Eur J Hum Genet

Specialty Genetics

Date 2016 Mar 10

PMID 26956252

Citations 3

Authors

David Perez-Benedico

Joel La Salvia

Zhaoshu Zeng

Giselle A Herrera

Ralph Garcia-Bertrand

Rene J Herrera

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Unlabelled: In spite of the wealth of available cultural and archeological information as well as general interest in the Mayans, little is known about their genetics. In this study, for the first time, we attempt to alleviate this lacuna of knowledge by comprehensively investigating the Y chromosome composition of contemporary Mayan populations throughout their domain. To accomplish this, five geographically targeted and ethnically distinct Mayan populations are investigated using Y-SNP and Y-STR markers.

Findings: overall, the Mayan populations as a group are highly homogeneous, basically made up of only two autochthonous haplogroups, Q1a2a1a1*-M3 and Q1a2a1*-L54. Although the Y-STR data illustrates diversity, this diversity, for the most part, is uniformly distributed among geographically distant Mayan populations. Similar haplotypes among populations, abundance of singletons and absence of population partitioning within networks among Mayan populations suggest recent population expansion and substantial gene flow within the Mayan dominion, possibly due to the development of agriculture, the establishment of interacting City-State systems and commerce.

Citing Articles

Genetic Distribution of Five Spinocerebellar Ataxia Microsatellite Loci in Mexican Native American Populations and Its Impact on Contemporary Mestizo Populations.

Gomez R, Tapia-Guerrero Y, Cisneros B, Orozco L, Cerecedo-Zapata C, Mendoza-Caamal E Genes (Basel). 2022; 13(1).

PMID: 35052497 PMC: 8775409. DOI: 10.3390/genes13010157.

Ancient DNA Studies in Pre-Columbian Mesoamerica.

Roca-Rada X, Souilmi Y, Teixeira J, Llamas B Genes (Basel). 2020; 11(11).

PMID: 33202852 PMC: 7696771. DOI: 10.3390/genes11111346.

Whole-sequence analysis indicates that the Y chromosome C2*-Star Cluster traces back to ordinary Mongols, rather than Genghis Khan.

Wei L, Yan S, Lu Y, Wen S, Huang Y, Wang L Eur J Hum Genet. 2018; 26(2):230-237.

PMID: 29358612 PMC: 5839053. DOI: 10.1038/s41431-017-0012-3.

References

Underhill P, Passarino G, Lin A, Shen P, Lahr M, Foley R . The phylogeography of Y chromosome binary haplotypes and the origins of modern human populations. Ann Hum Genet. 2001; 65(Pt 1):43-62. DOI: 10.1046/j.1469-1809.2001.6510043.x. View

. A nomenclature system for the tree of human Y-chromosomal binary haplogroups. Genome Res. 2002; 12(2):339-48. PMC: 155271. DOI: 10.1101/gr.217602. View

Kayser M, Brauer S, Schadlich H, Prinz M, Batzer M, Zimmerman P . Y chromosome STR haplotypes and the genetic structure of U.S. populations of African, European, and Hispanic ancestry. Genome Res. 2003; 13(4):624-34. PMC: 430174. DOI: 10.1101/gr.463003. View

Zhivotovsky L, Underhill P, Cinnioglu C, Kayser M, Morar B, Kivisild T . The effective mutation rate at Y chromosome short tandem repeats, with application to human population-divergence time. Am J Hum Genet. 2003; 74(1):50-61. PMC: 1181912. DOI: 10.1086/380911. View

Luis J, Rowold D, Regueiro M, Caeiro B, Cinnioglu C, Roseman C . The Levant versus the Horn of Africa: evidence for bidirectional corridors of human migrations. Am J Hum Genet. 2004; 74(3):532-44. PMC: 1182266. DOI: 10.1086/382286. View

Martinez L, Reategui E, Fonseca L, Sierra-Montes J, Terreros M, Pereira-Simon S . Superimposing polymorphism: the case of a point mutation within a polymorphic Alu insertion. Hum Hered. 2005; 59(2):109-17. DOI: 10.1159/000085225. View

Ibarra-Rivera L, Mirabal S, Regueiro M, Herrera R . Delineating genetic relationships among the Maya. Am J Phys Anthropol. 2007; 135(3):329-47. DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.20746. View

Karafet T, Mendez F, Meilerman M, Underhill P, Zegura S, Hammer M . New binary polymorphisms reshape and increase resolution of the human Y chromosomal haplogroup tree. Genome Res. 2008; 18(5):830-8. PMC: 2336805. DOI: 10.1101/gr.7172008. View

Gayden T, Regueiro M, Martinez L, Cadenas A, Herrera R . Human Y-chromosome haplotyping by allele-specific polymerase chain reaction. Electrophoresis. 2008; 29(11):2419-23. DOI: 10.1002/elps.200700702. View

10.

Dillehay T, Ramirez C, Pino M, Collins M, Rossen J, Pino-Navarro J . Monte Verde: seaweed, food, medicine, and the peopling of South America. Science. 2008; 320(5877):784-6. DOI: 10.1126/science.1156533. View

11.

Goedbloed M, Vermeulen M, Fang R, Lembring M, Wollstein A, Ballantyne K . Comprehensive mutation analysis of 17 Y-chromosomal short tandem repeat polymorphisms included in the AmpFlSTR Yfiler PCR amplification kit. Int J Legal Med. 2009; 123(6):471-82. PMC: 2766043. DOI: 10.1007/s00414-009-0342-y. View

12.

Myres N, Rootsi S, Lin A, Jarve M, King R, Kutuev I . A major Y-chromosome haplogroup R1b Holocene era founder effect in Central and Western Europe. Eur J Hum Genet. 2010; 19(1):95-101. PMC: 3039512. DOI: 10.1038/ejhg.2010.146. View

13.

Dulik M, Zhadanov S, Osipova L, Askapuli A, Gau L, Gokcumen O . Mitochondrial DNA and Y chromosome variation provides evidence for a recent common ancestry between Native Americans and Indigenous Altaians. Am J Hum Genet. 2012; 90(2):229-46. PMC: 3276666. DOI: 10.1016/j.ajhg.2011.12.014. View

14.

Regueiro M, Alvarez J, Rowold D, Herrera R . On the origins, rapid expansion and genetic diversity of Native Americans from hunting-gatherers to agriculturalists. Am J Phys Anthropol. 2013; 150(3):333-48. DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.22207. View

15.

Inomata T, Triadan D, Aoyama K, Castillo V, Yonenobu H . Early ceremonial constructions at Ceibal, Guatemala, and the origins of lowland Maya civilization. Science. 2013; 340(6131):467-71. DOI: 10.1126/science.1234493. View

16.

Calderon S, Perez-Benedico D, Mesa L, Guyton D, Rowold D, Herrera R . Phylogenetic and forensic studies of the Southeast Florida Hispanic population using the next-generation forensic PowerPlex® Y23 STR marker system. Leg Med (Tokyo). 2013; 15(6):289-92. DOI: 10.1016/j.legalmed.2013.07.003. View

17.

Rasmussen M, Anzick S, Waters M, Skoglund P, DeGiorgio M, Stafford Jr T . The genome of a Late Pleistocene human from a Clovis burial site in western Montana. Nature. 2014; 506(7487):225-9. PMC: 4878442. DOI: 10.1038/nature13025. View

18.

Inomata T, MacLellan J, Triadan D, Munson J, Burham M, Aoyama K . Development of sedentary communities in the Maya lowlands: coexisting mobile groups and public ceremonies at Ceibal, Guatemala. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2015; 112(14):4268-73. PMC: 4394245. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1501212112. View

19.

Raymond M, Rousset F . AN EXACT TEST FOR POPULATION DIFFERENTIATION. Evolution. 2017; 49(6):1280-1283. DOI: 10.1111/j.1558-5646.1995.tb04456.x. View

20.

Hammer M, Horai S . Y chromosomal DNA variation and the peopling of Japan. Am J Hum Genet. 1995; 56(4):951-62. PMC: 1801189. View