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The History of African Gene Flow into Southern Europeans, Levantines, and Jews

Author

Listed:
  • Priya Moorjani
  • Nick Patterson
  • Joel N Hirschhorn
  • Alon Keinan
  • Li Hao
  • Gil Atzmon
  • Edward Burns
  • Harry Ostrer
  • Alkes L Price
  • David Reich

Abstract

Previous genetic studies have suggested a history of sub-Saharan African gene flow into some West Eurasian populations after the initial dispersal out of Africa that occurred at least 45,000 years ago. However, there has been no accurate characterization of the proportion of mixture, or of its date. We analyze genome-wide polymorphism data from about 40 West Eurasian groups to show that almost all Southern Europeans have inherited 1%–3% African ancestry with an average mixture date of around 55 generations ago, consistent with North African gene flow at the end of the Roman Empire and subsequent Arab migrations. Levantine groups harbor 4%–15% African ancestry with an average mixture date of about 32 generations ago, consistent with close political, economic, and cultural links with Egypt in the late middle ages. We also detect 3%–5% sub-Saharan African ancestry in all eight of the diverse Jewish populations that we analyzed. For the Jewish admixture, we obtain an average estimated date of about 72 generations. This may reflect descent of these groups from a common ancestral population that already had some African ancestry prior to the Jewish Diasporas.Author Summary: Southern Europeans and Middle Eastern populations are known to have inherited a small percentage of their genetic material from recent sub-Saharan African migrations, but there has been no estimate of the exact proportion of this gene flow, or of its date. Here, we apply genomic methods to show that the proportion of African ancestry in many Southern European groups is 1%–3%, in Middle Eastern groups is 4%–15%, and in Jewish groups is 3%–5%. To estimate the dates when the mixture occurred, we develop a novel method that estimates the size of chromosomal segments of distinct ancestry in individuals of mixed ancestry. We verify using computer simulations that the method produces useful estimates of population mixture dates up to 300 generations in the past. By applying the method to West Eurasians, we show that the dates in Southern Europeans are consistent with events during the Roman Empire and subsequent Arab migrations. The dates in the Jewish groups are older, consistent with events in classical or biblical times that may have occurred in the shared history of Jewish populations.

Suggested Citation

  • Priya Moorjani & Nick Patterson & Joel N Hirschhorn & Alon Keinan & Li Hao & Gil Atzmon & Edward Burns & Harry Ostrer & Alkes L Price & David Reich, 2011. "The History of African Gene Flow into Southern Europeans, Levantines, and Jews," PLOS Genetics, Public Library of Science, vol. 7(4), pages 1-13, April.
  • Handle: RePEc:plo:pgen00:1001373
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1001373
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. John Novembre & Toby Johnson & Katarzyna Bryc & Zoltán Kutalik & Adam R. Boyko & Adam Auton & Amit Indap & Karen S. King & Sven Bergmann & Matthew R. Nelson & Matthew Stephens & Carlos D. Bustamante, 2008. "Genes mirror geography within Europe," Nature, Nature, vol. 456(7219), pages 274-274, November.
    2. David Reich & Kumarasamy Thangaraj & Nick Patterson & Alkes L. Price & Lalji Singh, 2009. "Reconstructing Indian population history," Nature, Nature, vol. 461(7263), pages 489-494, September.
    3. John Novembre & Toby Johnson & Katarzyna Bryc & Zoltán Kutalik & Adam R. Boyko & Adam Auton & Amit Indap & Karen S. King & Sven Bergmann & Matthew R. Nelson & Matthew Stephens & Carlos D. Bustamante, 2008. "Genes mirror geography within Europe," Nature, Nature, vol. 456(7218), pages 98-101, November.
    4. Nick Patterson & Alkes L Price & David Reich, 2006. "Population Structure and Eigenanalysis," PLOS Genetics, Public Library of Science, vol. 2(12), pages 1-20, December.
    5. Gil McVean, 2009. "A Genealogical Interpretation of Principal Components Analysis," PLOS Genetics, Public Library of Science, vol. 5(10), pages 1-10, October.
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    Cited by:

    1. Yedael Y Waldman & Arjun Biddanda & Natalie R Davidson & Paul Billing-Ross & Maya Dubrovsky & Christopher L Campbell & Carole Oddoux & Eitan Friedman & Gil Atzmon & Eran Halperin & Harry Ostrer & Alon, 2016. "The Genetics of Bene Israel from India Reveals Both Substantial Jewish and Indian Ancestry," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 11(3), pages 1-28, March.
    2. Priya Moorjani & Nick Patterson & Po-Ru Loh & Mark Lipson & Péter Kisfali & Bela I Melegh & Michael Bonin & Ľudevít Kádaši & Olaf Rieß & Bonnie Berger & David Reich & Béla Melegh, 2013. "Reconstructing Roma History from Genome-Wide Data," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 8(3), pages 1-11, March.
    3. Buzbas, Erkan Ozge & Verdu, Paul, 2018. "Inference on admixture fractions in a mechanistic model of recurrent admixture," Theoretical Population Biology, Elsevier, vol. 122(C), pages 149-157.
    4. Jacobo Pardo-Seco & Alberto Gómez-Carballa & Jorge Amigo & Federico Martinón-Torres & Antonio Salas, 2014. "A Genome-Wide Study of Modern-Day Tuscans: Revisiting Herodotus's Theory on the Origin of the Etruscans," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 9(9), pages 1-11, September.
    5. Katsuhiko Mineta & Kosuke Goto & Takashi Gojobori & Fowzan S Alkuraya, 2021. "Population structure of indigenous inhabitants of Arabia," PLOS Genetics, Public Library of Science, vol. 17(1), pages 1-18, January.
    6. Rogers, Alan R. & Bohlender, Ryan J., 2015. "Bias in estimators of archaic admixture," Theoretical Population Biology, Elsevier, vol. 100(C), pages 63-78.
    7. Buschbom, Jutta, 2018. "Exploring and validating statistical reliability in forensic conservation genetics," Thünen Reports 63, Johann Heinrich von Thünen Institute, Federal Research Institute for Rural Areas, Forestry and Fisheries.

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