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Y‐chromosome Lineages from Portugal, Madeira and Açores Record Elements of Sephardim and Berber Ancestry
Author(s) -
Gonçalves Rita,
Freitas Ana,
Branco Marta,
Rosa Alexandra,
Fernandes Ana T.,
Zhivotovsky Lev A.,
Underhill Peter A.,
Kivisild Toomas,
Brehm António
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
annals of human genetics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.537
H-Index - 77
eISSN - 1469-1809
pISSN - 0003-4800
DOI - 10.1111/j.1529-8817.2005.00161.x
Subject(s) - haplogroup , archipelago , gene pool , y chromosome , gene flow , biology , population , portuguese , evolutionary biology , genetics , geography , haplotype , genetic variation , allele , gene , demography , genetic diversity , ecology , linguistics , philosophy , sociology
Summary A total of 553 Y‐chromosomes were analyzed from mainland Portugal and the North Atlantic Archipelagos of Açores and Madeira, in order to characterize the genetic composition of their male gene pool. A large majority (78–83% of each population) of the male lineages could be classified as belonging to three basic Y chromosomal haplogroups, R1b, J, and E3b. While R1b, accounting for more than half of the lineages in any of the Portuguese sub‐populations, is a characteristic marker of many different West European populations, haplogroups J and E3b consist of lineages that are typical of the circum‐Mediterranean region or even East Africa. The highly diverse haplogroup E3b in Portuguese likely combines sub‐clades of distinct origins. The present composition of the Y chromosomes in Portugal in this haplogroup likely reflects a pre‐Arab component shared with North African populations or testifies, at least in part, to the influence of Sephardic Jews. In contrast to the marginally low sub‐Saharan African Y chromosome component in Portuguese, such lineages have been detected at a moderately high frequency in our previous survey of mtDNA from the same samples, indicating the presence of sex‐related gene flow, most likely mediated by the Atlantic slave trade.