The Y-associated XY275 low allele is not restricted to indigenous African peoples. |
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| Authors: | A Spurdle M Ramsay T Jenkins |
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| Affiliation: | Department of Human Genetics, School of Pathology, South African Institute for Medical Research, Johannesburg. |
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| Abstract: | The level of linkage disequilibrium between the XY275 MspI polymorphism and the X and Y boundaries was investigated in 21 different southern African populations. A full range of frequencies of the high allele was observed on the 1,013 X chromosomes studied, in keeping with published data. In previous studies fixation of the high allele on the Y chromosome was observed in all but two groups--a Pygmy and a Tsumkwe San population. However, in the present study of 673 Y chromosomes, the low allele was found to be associated with the Y chromosome in several different Bantu-speaking negroid groups, the Khoisan-speaking negroid Dama, the Khoisan, two groups of mixed ancestry, and the South African Asiatic-Indian population. The discovery of the low allele on Y chromosomes of caucasoid individuals suggests that more than one class of Y chromosome gave rise to the present-day non-African population. The data also fail to provide support for the theory that Africa is the site of origin of Homo sapiens, but they equally do not exclude it. |
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