Mitochondrial DNA variability of West New Guinea populations

Abstract

This paper reports human mitochondrial DNA variability in West New Guinea (the least known, western side of the island of New Guinea), not yet described from a molecular perspective. The study was carried out on 202 subjects from 12 ethnic groups, belonging to six different Papuan language families, representative of both mountain and coastal plain areas. Mitochondrial DNA hypervariable region 1 (HVS 1) and the presence of the 9-bp deletion (intergenic region COII-tRNA(Lys)) were investigated. HVS 1 sequencing identified 73 polymorphic sites defining 89 haplotypes; the 9-bp deletion, which is considered a marker of Austronesian migration in the Pacific, was found to be absent in the whole West New Guinea study sample. Statistical analysis applied to the resulting haplotypes reveal high heterogeneity and an intersecting distribution of genetic variability in these populations, despite their cultural and geographic diversity. The results of subsequent phylogenetic approaches subdivide mtDNA diversity in West New Guinea into three main clusters (groups I-III), defined by sets of polymorphisms which are also shared by some individuals from Papua New Guinea. Comparisons with worldwide HVS 1 sequences stored in the MitBASE database show the absence of these patterns outside Oceania and a few Indonesian subjects, who also lack the 9-bp deletion. This finding, which is consistent with the effects of genetic drift and prolonged isolation of West New Guinea populations, lead us to regard these patterns as New Guinea population markers, which may harbor the genetic memory of the earliest human migrations to the island.

Human genetics of the Kula Ring: Y-chromosome and mitochondrial DNA variation in the Massim of Papua New Guinea

“…For comparison, the gross frequencies of these haplogroups as observed in other regions of Asia/Oceania, pooled from different population samples, are included as well using previously published data. 7,10,16,18,42 For practical reasons, the PNG Highlands group includes Kapuna, a Papuan-speaking group from the Gulf Province of PNG with an assumed origin in the highlands, while the PNG Coast group includes Bereina, an Austronesian-speaking group from the southern coastal area of PNG. Figure S1) indeed showed that its haplotypes are quite diverse.…”

“…For comparisons in a wider geographic context, we included previously described population data from East Asia, Island Southeast Asia, and Near and Remote Oceania, using a minimal sample size of 20 individuals per population for both NRY and mtDNA 7,10,16,18,42,43 (for an overview, see Supplementary Table S1). …”

“…1,2 Previous studies have addressed human genetic variation in Oceania, particularly Polynesia, [3][4][5][6][7][8] mainland New Guinea [9][10][11][12][13] and Island Melanesia. [14][15][16][17][18] One area of Near Oceania (NO) yet understudied from a human genetic perspective is the island region off the southeastern tip of New Guinea (Figure 1).…”

HVS-I polymorphism screening of ancient human mitochondrial DNA provides evidence for N9a discontinuity and East Asian haplogroups in the Neolithic Hungary

“…Population demographic simulations also referred to other significant population exchange/movements, as the mtDNA- Haplogroup prediction of ancient samples are given with letters in bold after their names. mitCRS, rCRS; Derenburg, Derenburg 1 specimen from Germany; 6 Stone Age Eulau, Eulau sequence from the Later Stone Age Corded Ware Culture, Germany; 31 Guinea, recent New Guinea sequence; 32 North Indian, recent North Indian sequence; 33 Philippines, recent Philippine sequence; 34 Siberian, Siberian specimen; 5 Iberian, Iberian specimen. 7 (b) In this dendrogram for European Neolithic mtDNA sequences, the overlapping regions between nt16055 and nt16378 were considered for alignment.…”

Distribution of a 27-bp deletion in the band 3 gene in South Pacific islanders

“…Sea dwellers who bore the Lapita culture introduced the Austronesian language as well as their genetic traits into this region about 3,500 years ago (Bellwood 1989). A recent study on mitochondrial DNA suggested that the Dani and the Asmat shared a common Papuan ancestor (Timmaseo-Ponzetta et al 2002); however, the B3D27 was found in the Asmat but not in the Dani. Austronesian infiltration into New Guinea has genetically been demonstrated in the Asmat and the Gidra as well as in the populations inhabiting nearby islands, but not in the Dani (Ohashi et al, 2000;Nakayama et al unpublished data).…”