HLA in the Azores Archipelago: possible presence of Mongoloid genes

Abstract

The HLA profile of the Azoreans has been compared with those of other world populations in order to provide additional information regarding the history of their origins. The allele frequencies, genetic distances between populations, correspondence analyses and most frequent haplotypes were calculated. Our results indicate that the Azorean population most likely contains an admixture of high-frequency Caucasoid, Mongoloid and, to a lesser degree, Negroid HLA genes. The middle Atlantic Azores Archipelago was officially colonized by the Portuguese after 1439 and historical records are concordant with the existence of Caucasoid and Negroid population. However, Mongoloid genes were not suspected, but the Oriental HLA haplotypes A24-B44-DR6-DQ1, A29-B21-DR7-DQ2 and A2-B50-DR7-DQ2 are the fourth, fifth and sixth most frequent ones in Azores. A correspondence analysis shows that the Azorean population is equidistant from Asian and European populations and genetic distances are in some cases closer to the Asian than to European ethnic groups, and never are significantly different; also, B*2707 subtype is found in Asians and Azoreans (but not in Europeans) and the same Machado-Joseph Disease founder haplotypes (Chr 14) are found in both Japanese and Azoreans. It is proposed that a Mongoloid population exists in Azores; whether, the arrival occurred prior to discovery is undetermined.

The Origin of Amerindians and the Peopling of the Americas According to HLA Genes: Admixture with Asian and Pacific People

“…( 2 ), blue color. This is concordant with the existence of gene flow between Amerindians and Pacific or Siberian people, but not necessarily with a migration of Amerindians from Asia or Pacific Areas, although there are signs of cultural or genetic contacts with Asia [19] or even with Iberians [16,17], Fig. ( 1 ).…”

“…Finally, both genetic [17] and archaeological [16] evidence suggests that a two-way Trans-Atlantic traffic occurred before Columbus discovered America Fig. ( 1 ); archaeologists in New Mexico have recently found tools used 20,000 years ago in Spanish Solutrean culture [16].…”

Linkage disequilibrium and diversity for three genomic regions in Azoreans and mainland Portuguese

“…Nevertheless, with HLA data, the haplotype A*02 B*44 DRB1*04 was identified at a frequency of 1.42%. This haplotype, possibly oriental in origin, has previously been described in the Azores (Bruges-Armas et al , 1999). The introduction of this genetic contribution probably occurred during the expansion of trade navigation between Europe, America and Asia, in the 16 th and 17 th centuries, when the Azores played a strategic role due to its geographic position.…”

Origin of Tibeto-Burman speakers: Evidence from HLA allele distribution in Lisu and Nu inhabiting Yunnan of China

“…The high polymorphism of HLA system has been proved to be a very valuable tool in deducing the evolutionary history of human groups, because the characteristic HLA alleles of founder population would not completely disappear with time [10,11]. Here we report our investigation on the allele and haplotype frequencies of HLA class I and class II genes in two TBs (Lisu and Nu) and compare their HLA gene profile with that of other TBs, Asians, and worldwide populations to shed light on the origin of TBs.…”