Abstract
The pattern of population genetic variation and allele frequencies within a species are unstable and are changing over time according to different evolutionary factors. For humans, it is possible to combine detailed patrilineal genealogical records with deep Y-chromosome (Y-chr) genotyping to disentangle signals of historical population genetic structures because of the exponential increase in genetic genealogical data. To test this approach, we studied the temporal pattern of the ‘autochthonous’ micro-geographical genetic structure in the region of Brabant in Belgium and the Netherlands (Northwest Europe). Genealogical data of 881 individuals from Northwest Europe were collected, from which 634 family trees showed a residence within Brabant for at least one generation. The Y-chr genetic variation of the 634 participants was investigated using 110 Y-SNPs and 38 Y-STRs and linked to particular locations within Brabant on specific time periods based on genealogical records. Significant temporal variation in the Y-chr distribution was detected through a north–south gradient in the frequencies distribution of sub-haplogroup R1b1b2a1 (R-U106), next to an opposite trend for R1b1b2a2g (R-U152). The gradient on R-U106 faded in time and even became totally invisible during the Industrial Revolution in the first half of the nineteenth century. Therefore, genealogical data for at least 200 years are required to study small-scale ‘autochthonous’ population structure in Western Europe.
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Acknowledgements
We thank all the volunteers who donated DNA samples and provided genealogical data used in this study. They acknowledge the Flemish Society for Genealogical Research, Familiekunde Vlaanderen, which was involved in the collection of the samples and data. They are grateful to Anja Termote and Michel Willems of the Directorate General Statistics and Economic Information (Belgian Government) for providing demographic data. Many thanks also to Pieter Van Camp, Koenraad Matthys, Jean-Jacques Cassiman, Marc Van Den Cloot, Inge Neyens and Lucrece Lernout for useful assistance and discussions. We also want to thank Antonette Anandarajah and three anonymous referees for their useful corrections on an earlier version of this paper. Maarten HD Larmuseau is postdoctoral fellow of the FWO-Vlaanderen (Research Foundation-Flanders). This study was funded by the Flemish Society for Genealogical Research ‘Familiekunde Vlaanderen’ (Antwerp), the Flanders Ministry of Culture and the KU Leuven BOF-Centre of Excellence Financing on ‘Eco- and socio-evolutionary dynamics’ (Project number PF/2010/07).
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Larmuseau, M., Ottoni, C., Raeymaekers, J. et al. Temporal differentiation across a West-European Y-chromosomal cline: genealogy as a tool in human population genetics. Eur J Hum Genet 20, 434–440 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/ejhg.2011.218
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ejhg.2011.218
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