Ethnic composition and genetic differentiation of the Libyan population: insights on<i>Alu</i>polymorphisms

Many studies based on genetic diversity of North African populations have contributed to elucidate the modelling of the genetic landscape in this region. North Africa is considered as a distinct spatial-temporal entity on geographic, archaeological, and historical grounds, which has undergone the influence of different human migrations along its shaping. For instance, Libya, a North African country, was first inhabited by Berbers and then colonized by a variety of ethnic groups like Phoenicians, Greeks, Romans, Arabs and, in recent times, Italians. In this study, we contribute to clarify the genetic variation of Libya and consequently, of North African modern populations, by the study of Libyan male lineages. A total of 22 Y-chromosome-specific SNPs were genotyped in a sample of 175 Libyan males, allowing the characterization of 18 Y-chromosomal haplogroups. The obtained data revealed a predominant Northwest African component represented by haplogroup E-M81 (33.7%) followed by J(xJ1a,J2)-M304 (27.4%), which is postulated to have a Middle Eastern origin. The comparative study with other populations (∼5,400 individuals from North Africa, Middle East, Sub-Saharan Africa, and Europe) revealed a general genetic homogeneity among North African populations (FST = 5.3 %; P-value < 0.0001). Overall, the Y-haplogroup diversity in Libya and in North Africa is characterized by two genetic components. The first signature is typical of Berber-speaking people (E-M81), the autochthonous inhabitants, whereas the second is (J(xJ1a,J2)-M304), originating from Arabic populations. This is in agreement with the hypothesis of an Arabic expansion from the Middle East, shaping the North African genetic landscape.

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Paternal lineages in Libya inferred from Y‐chromosome haplogroups

Triki-Fendri

Sánchez-Diz

Rey-González

et al. 2015

American J Phys Anthropol

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Human population genetics of Comoros islanders: Alu polymorphisms and the peopling of the three major islands

et al. 2021

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Aluinsertion polymorphisms in the African Sahel and the origin of Fulani pastoralists

Čížková

Hofmanová

Mokhtar

et al. 2017

Annals of Human Biology

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It is suggested that contemporary Fulani pastoralists might be descendants of an ancestral Eastern African population that, while crossing the Sahara in the Holocene, admixed slightly with a population of Eurasian (as evidenced by uniparental polymorphisms) ancestry. It seems that, in the Fulani pastoralists, Alu elements reflect more ancient genetic relationships than do uniparental genetic systems.

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Ethnic composition and genetic differentiation of the Libyan population: insights onAlupolymorphisms

Cited by 5 publications

References 23 publications

Paternal lineages in Libya inferred from Y‐chromosome haplogroups

Paternal lineages in Libya inferred from Y‐chromosome haplogroups

Human population genetics of Comoros islanders: Alu polymorphisms and the peopling of the three major islands

Aluinsertion polymorphisms in the African Sahel and the origin of Fulani pastoralists

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