IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/plo/pone00/0097674.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Episode of Genetic Drift Defining the Migration of Humans out of Africa Is Derived from a Large East African Population Size

Author

Listed:
  • Nuha Elhassan
  • Eyoab Iyasu Gebremeskel
  • Mohamed Ali Elnour
  • Dan Isabirye
  • John Okello
  • Ayman Hussien
  • Dominic Kwiatksowski
  • Jibril Hirbo
  • Sara Tishkoff
  • Muntaser E Ibrahim

Abstract

Human genetic variation particularly in Africa is still poorly understood. This is despite a consensus on the large African effective population size compared to populations from other continents. Based on sequencing of the mitochondrial Cytochrome C Oxidase subunit II (MT-CO2), and genome wide microsatellite data we observe evidence suggesting the effective size (Ne) of humans to be larger than the current estimates, with a foci of increased genetic diversity in east Africa, and a population size of east Africans being at least 2-6 fold larger than other populations. Both phylogenetic and network analysis indicate that east Africans possess more ancestral lineages in comparison to various continental populations placing them at the root of the human evolutionary tree. Our results also affirm east Africa as the likely spot from which migration towards Asia has taken place. The study reflects the spectacular level of sequence variation within east Africans in comparison to the global sample, and appeals for further studies that may contribute towards filling the existing gaps in the database. The implication of these data to current genomic research, as well as the need to carry out defined studies of human genetic variation that includes more African populations; particularly east Africans is paramount.

Suggested Citation

  • Nuha Elhassan & Eyoab Iyasu Gebremeskel & Mohamed Ali Elnour & Dan Isabirye & John Okello & Ayman Hussien & Dominic Kwiatksowski & Jibril Hirbo & Sara Tishkoff & Muntaser E Ibrahim, 2014. "The Episode of Genetic Drift Defining the Migration of Humans out of Africa Is Derived from a Large East African Population Size," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 9(5), pages 1-12, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0097674
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0097674
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0097674
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0097674&type=printable
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1371/journal.pone.0097674?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Max Ingman & Henrik Kaessmann & Svante Pääbo & Ulf Gyllensten, 2000. "Mitochondrial genome variation and the origin of modern humans," Nature, Nature, vol. 408(6813), pages 708-713, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Bhaba Amatya, 2021. "DNA Barcoding of Cyprinid Fish Chagunius chagunio Hamilton,1822 from Phewa Lake, Nepal," International Journal of Biology, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 11(4), pages 1-88, December.
    2. Owen Alexander Higgins & Alessandra Modi & Costanza Cannariato & Maria Angela Diroma & Federico Lugli & Stefano Ricci & Valentina Zaro & Stefania Vai & Antonino Vazzana & Matteo Romandini & He Yu & Fr, 2024. "Life history and ancestry of the late Upper Palaeolithic infant from Grotta delle Mura, Italy," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-16, December.
    3. Etienne Patin & Guillaume Laval & Luis B Barreiro & Antonio Salas & Ornella Semino & Silvana Santachiara-Benerecetti & Kenneth K Kidd & Judith R Kidd & Lolke Van der Veen & Jean-Marie Hombert & Antoin, 2009. "Inferring the Demographic History of African Farmers and Pygmy Hunter–Gatherers Using a Multilocus Resequencing Data Set," PLOS Genetics, Public Library of Science, vol. 5(4), pages 1-13, April.
    4. Jody Hey, 2005. "On the Number of New World Founders: A Population Genetic Portrait of the Peopling of the Americas," PLOS Biology, Public Library of Science, vol. 3(6), pages 1-1, May.
    5. McEvoy, Brian P. & Visscher, Peter M., 2009. "Genetics of human height," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 7(3), pages 294-306, December.
    6. Ricardo Kanitz & Elsa G Guillot & Sylvain Antoniazza & Samuel Neuenschwander & Jérôme Goudet, 2018. "Complex genetic patterns in human arise from a simple range-expansion model over continental landmasses," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(2), pages 1-16, February.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0097674. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: plosone (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.