Brief communication: Admixture analysis with forensic microsatellites in Minas Gerais, Brazil: The ongoing evolution of the capital and of an African-derived community

Brief communication: Admixture analysis with forensic microsatellites in Minas Gerais, Brazil: The ongoing evolution of the capital and of an African-derived community

American Journal of Physical Anthropology
Volume 139, Issue 4 (August 2009)
pages 591–595
DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.21046

Marília O. Scliar
Departamento de Biologia Geral, ICB
Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, MG, Brazil

Marco T. Vaintraub
GENETICENTER—Centro de Genética e Reprodução, Nova Lima, MG, Brazil

Patrícia M.V. Vaintraub
GENETICENTER—Centro de Genética e Reprodução, Nova Lima, MG, Brazil

Cleusa G. Fonseca
Departamento de Biologia Geral, ICB
Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, MG, Brazil

We report the estimated allele frequencies for 13 and 14 microsatellite loci in two populations of Minas Gerais, Brazil as follows: Belo Horizonte (the capital) and Marinhos (an African-derived community). Analysis of the African, Amerindian, and European genetic contributions to both populations, together with historical information, revealed distinct differences between the two populations. Estimates for Belo Horizonte revealed a higher-European (66%) than African (32%) contribution, and a minimal Amerindian contribution. These results are consistent with the peopling of the city mainly by people from the Minas Gerais hinterland, a people highly admixed but with more European ancestry. Estimates for Marinhos confirmed the high-African component of the population. However, a temporal analysis of two datasets—CURRENT (representing the population living in Marinhos today) and ORIGINAL (representing families, who have lived in Marinhos since the onset of the 20th century),—identified a diminishing of the population’s African ancestry from 92% in the ORIGINAL group to 67% in the CURRENT group. This change is here interpreted as a consequence of the growing migration into the village of people with more European ancestry and subsequent admixture with the local population.

Description of the supporting document:

Supporting Table S1. Origin and size of parental sample populations used in admixture analyses. Supporting Table S2. Allele frequencies distribution of 13 STRs loci in Belo Horizonte population. Supporting Table S3. Allele frequencies distribution of 14 STRs loci in Marinhos (CURR) population. Supporting Table S4. Allele frequencies distribution of 14 STRs loci in Marinhos (ORIG) population. Supporting Table S5. Admixture proportions and 90% confidence intervals for each individual of Marinhos population obtained with the Structure 2.0 program.

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