Identification of the ancestral haplotype for apolipoprotein B suggests an African origin of Homo sapiens sapiens and traces their subsequent migration to Europe and the Pacific.

Abstract

The probable ancestral haplotype for human apolipoprotein B (apoB) has been identified through immunological analysis of chimpanzee and gorilla serum and sequence analysis of their DNA. Moreover, the frequency of this ancestral apoB haplotype among different human populations provides strong support for the African origin of Homo sapiens sapiens and their subsequent migration from Africa to Europe and to the Pacific. The approach used here for the identification of the ancestral human apoB haplotype is likely to be applicable to many other genes.The low density lipoproteins (LDL) are the principal carriers of cholesterol in the blood of humans and many higher animals. A single protein is found on the LDL; this protein, named apolipoprotein B (apoB), is composed of 4536 amino acid residues arranged in a single polypeptide chain (1). Allelic variants of apoB are immunogenic, causing antibodies to be produced in the blood of patients who have received multiple transfusions. Immunological studies on these patients eventually identified a group of five immunogenic sites on their LDL; these became known as the "antigen group" (Ag) polymorphism, and the five sites were called Ag(c/g), Ag(a/d), Ag(x/y), Ag(h/i), and Ag(t/z) (2). As shown in Fig.

Identification of new apolipoprotein B epitopes and haplotypes and their distribution in swine populations

“…The results are in complete agreement with the evidence from previous studies of swine (Rapacz 1978) and human (Rapacz et al 1991) immunogenic polymorphism of apoB by showing that the common allotype represents the ancestral apoB epitope and the individual allotypes are mutant epitopes. The results are in complete agreement with the evidence from previous studies of swine (Rapacz 1978) and human (Rapacz et al 1991) immunogenic polymorphism of apoB by showing that the common allotype represents the ancestral apoB epitope and the individual allotypes are mutant epitopes.…”

“…To determine the evolutionary origin of the four allotypes as well as apoB haplotypes, human sera were reacted with the corresponding four precipitins for establishing the immunological relation. The results are in complete agreement with the evidence from previous studies of swine (Rapacz 1978) and human (Rapacz et al 1991) immunogenic polymorphism of apoB by showing that the common allotype represents the ancestral apoB epitope and the individual allotypes are mutant epitopes. Thus, the outgroup approach provides strong evidence that the evolution of immunogenic polymorphism of apoB is anchored to an ancestral haplotype composed of exclusively ancestral epitopes as determined in Homo sapiens sapiens (Rapacz et aJ.…”

“…The probable locations of the Ag immunogenic polymorphism in humans, which is analogous to swine Lpb, have been determined (Rapacz et al 1991). The location of immunogenic sites for Lpbs, Lpb10 and Lpb101 mutations, as well as the remaining eight sites for Lpb1-Lpb8 mutant epitopes remains to be studied, although six markers of RFLPs of the swine apoB gene showed correspondence to six Lpb markers (Maeda et al 1988).…”

“…• Each haplotype is composed of an individual (mutant) allotype (Lpbt-Lpbs) specific for swine only and a set of common (ancestral; Rapacz et al 1991) epitopes (Lpb11-Lpb18) shared with primates including humans (Rapacz 1978). The eight alleles give rise to 36 Lpb genotypes.…”

Comparison of craniofacial features of major human groups

“…In recent years, mitochondria1 and nuclear DNA analyses, as well as cytogenetic studies, have opened new channels in the investigation of anatomically modern humans' diversity and relationships (Nei and Roychoudhury, 1974;Horai et al, 1986;Wainscoat et al, 1986;Cann et al, 1987;CavalliSforza et al, 1988;Vosberg, 1989;Long et al, 1990;Rapacz et al, 1991;Papiha et al, 1991;Vigilant et al, 1991;Wilson and Cann, 1992). The main conclusion reached by these researchers is that there has been rapid world-wide replacement by migration from a single source, subsaharan Africa, ca.…”