Historical records under the genetic evidence: “Chiriguano” tribe genesis as a test case

Abstract

Historical records suggest that Chiriguano tribe is the result of a genetic admixture event. The process involved the arrival of Guaraní tribesmen descending from Amazonian region of Brazil along with groups of Arawak origin that inhabited the foothill plains of Bolivia. Later they arrived in Argentina at the beginning of the twentieth century. Aiming to test the historical records, we analysed a set of 46 samples collected at San Ramon de la Nueva Orán, Province of Salta, Argentina. A wide set of uni- and biparentally transmitted genetic markers were analysed, including 23 autosomal STRs; 46 AIM-DIPs and 24 AIM-SNPs all located at diverse autosomal chromosome locations; 23 Y-STRs and the entire mtDNA D-Loop sequence. Ancestry informative markers allowed for the detection of a strong Native American component in the genomes (> 94%), while all mtDNA haplotypes showed Native American characteristic motives, and 93% of Y-haplotypes belonged to the Q1a3a Y-haplogroup. The analysis of mitochondrial haplotypes and Y chromosome, although they did not match other populations, revealed a relationship between the Chiriguano and other groups of Guaraní and Arawak origin inhabiting Brazil and Bolivia, confirming, at least in part, the historical records describing the origins of Chiriguano tribal settlements in northwestern Argentina.

Genetic structure of Mataco-Guaycurú speakers from Argentina and the extent of their genetic admixture with neighbouring urban populations

“…Sub-hg D4j2 was observed in 8 Toba samples and was the most frequent hg in Pilagá (15/56). This hg was observed in one sample from southern Argentina 18 but has not been observed in any other aboriginal group previously investigated by our team: Mapuche and Tehuelche 17 , Chiriguano 19 or Mbyá - Guaraní 20 .…”

“…This sub-hg was observed twice by Bobillo et al . 18 (in northeastern Argentina) and in the Chiriguano Native American group 19 , all with different sequences.…”

“…Other sub-hgs, including A2ag (in one Mocoví) and A2ah (in one Toba), were not found or were infrequent in other Native American groups from Argentina (A2ah was observed once in Chiriguano by Sala et al . 19 ).…”

“…We sequenced the entire mtDNA D-loop (1,120 base pairs). Amplification, purification and electrophoresis conditions were as previously described 19 . All sequencing analyses were performed with both forward and reverse primers (with at least four to six primers for each sample).…”

Patrones de migración y niveles de diversidad genética de linajes maternos en la población de La Esperanza, provincia de Jujuy

“…Las afinidades genéticas relativas entre la muestra de La Esperanza y otras poblaciones del Cono Sur se presentan en la Figura 2, donde se proyectan las distancias K2P mediante un escalamiento bidimensional. La Esperanza ocupa el centro del gráfico, a bajos valores de distancia con las muestras Quechua de Huancavelica, Avá Guaraní y Pilagá (Cabana, Merriwether, Hunley y Demarchi, 2006;Sandoval et al, 2016;Sala et al, 2018). El grupo Andes presenta una gran dispersión y se solapa con NOA, Chaco y Tierras Bajas.…”