MtDNA diversity of Ghana: a forensic and phylogeographic view
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Date
2011
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Abstract
West Africa is characterized by a migration history spanning more than 150,000 years. Climate changes
but also political circumstances were responsible for several early but also recent population movements
that shaped the West African mitochondrial landscape. The aim of the study was to establish a Ghanaian
mtDNA dataset for forensic purposes and to investigate the diversity of the Ghanaian population sample
with respect to surrounding populations. We sequenced full mitochondrial control regions of 193 Akan
people from Ghana and excluded two apparently close maternally related individuals due to preceding
kinship testing. The remaining dataset comprising 191 sequences was applied as etalon for quasi median
network analysis and was subsequently combined with 99 additional control region sequences
from surrounding West African countries. All sequences were incorporated into the EMPOP database
enriching the severely underrepresented African mtDNA pool. For phylogeographic considerations, the
Ghanaian haplotypes were compared to those of 19 neighboring populations comprising a total number
of 6198 HVS1 haplotypes. We found extensive genetic admixture between the Ghanaian lineages and
those from adjacent populations diminishing with geographical distance. The extent of genetic
admixture reflects the long but also recent history of migration waves within West Africa mainly caused
by changing environmental conditions. Also, evidence for potential socio-economical influences such as
trade routes is provided by the occurrence of U6b and U6d sequences found in Dubai but also in Tunisia
leading to the African West Coast via Mauritania and Senegal but also via Niger, Nigeria to Cameroon
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This article is published by elsevier and is also available at www.elsevier.com/locate/fsig
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Genetics 6 (2012) 244–249