Whole-genome Sequence Analysis of a Pan African Set of Samples Reveals Archaic Gene Flow from an Extinct Basal Population of Modern Humans into Sub-Saharan Populations

Overview

Journal Genome Biol

Specialties Biology
Genetics

Date 2019 Apr 27

PMID 31023378

Citations 28

Authors

Belen Lorente-Galdos

Oscar Lao

Gerard Serra-Vidal

Gabriel Santpere

Lukas F K Kuderna

Lara R Arauna

Karima Fadhlaoui-Zid

Ville N Pimenoff

Himla Soodyall

Pierre Zalloua

Tomas Marques-Bonet

David Comas

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Background: Population demography and gene flow among African groups, as well as the putative archaic introgression of ancient hominins, have been poorly explored at the genome level.

Results: Here, we examine 15 African populations covering all major continental linguistic groups, ecosystems, and lifestyles within Africa through analysis of whole-genome sequence data of 21 individuals sequenced at deep coverage. We observe a remarkable correlation among genetic diversity and geographic distance, with the hunter-gatherer groups being more genetically differentiated and having larger effective population sizes throughout most modern-human history. Admixture signals are found between neighbor populations from both hunter-gatherer and agriculturalists groups, whereas North African individuals are closely related to Eurasian populations. Regarding archaic gene flow, we test six complex demographic models that consider recent admixture as well as archaic introgression. We identify the fingerprint of an archaic introgression event in the sub-Saharan populations included in the models (~ 4.0% in Khoisan, ~ 4.3% in Mbuti Pygmies, and ~ 5.8% in Mandenka) from an early divergent and currently extinct ghost modern human lineage.

Conclusion: The present study represents an in-depth genomic analysis of a Pan African set of individuals, which emphasizes their complex relationships and demographic history at population level.

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