The influence of clan structure on the genetic variation in a single Ghanaian village

Abstract

Socioeconomic and cultural factors are thought to have an important role in influencing human population genetic structure. To explain such population structure differences, most studies analyse genetic differences among widely dispersed human populations. In contrast, we have studied the genetic structure of an ethnic group occupying a single village in north-eastern Ghana. We found a markedly skewed male population substructure because of an almost complete lack of male gene flow among Bimoba clans in this village. We also observed a deep male substructure within one of the clans in this village. Among all males, we observed only three Y-single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) haplogroups: E1b1a*-M2, E1b1a7a*-U174 and E1b1a8a*-U209, P277, P278. In contrast to the marked Y-chromosomal substructure, mitochondrial DNA HVS-1 sequence variation and autosomal short-tandem repeats variation patterns indicate high genetic diversities and a virtually random female-mediated gene flow among clans. On the extreme micro-geographical scale of this single Bimoba village, correspondence between the Y-chromosome lineages and clan membership could be due to the combined effects of the strict patrilocal and patrilineal structure. If translated to larger geographic scales, our results would imply that the extent of variation in uniparentally inherited genetic markers, which are typically associated with historical migration on a continental scale, could equally likely be the result of many small and different cumulative effects of social factors such as clan membership that act at a local scale. Such local scale effects should therefore be considered in genetic studies, especially those that use uniparental markers, before making inferences about human history at large.

Group membership, geography and shared ancestry: Genetic variation in the Basotho of Lesotho

“…Support for a correlation between genetics and claimed ancestry was also provided for the origin of the Cameroonian Nso' dynasty, whose Y chromosome haplogroup composition was shown to be compatible with one of the oral histories about its foundation (Veeramah et al, 2008). More recently, a correlation between Y chromosome variation and clan affiliation within a single village in Ghana has been observed (Sanchez-Faddeev et al, 2013).…”

Genetic variants determining survival and fertility in an adverse African environment: a population-based large-scale candidate gene association study

“…As a result of the polygynous and patrilocal culture in the research area, men preferentially marry women from outside the region. Previous analyses of this study population have confirmed that the female-mediated gene flow is nearly fully random and prevents population stratification of autosomal genes [31]. To account for possible population stratification in this study, we rigidly excluded individuals that had a different allele at less than 10% of the loci indicated by an IBS1 below 10% and SNPs that were not in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium.…”

“…As a result of the polygynous and patrilocal culture in the research area, the female-mediated gene flow is nearly fully random [31]. Multidimensional scaling (MDS) analysis did not reveal any population stratification.…”

Variants of the IL‐10 gene associate with muscle strength in elderly from rural Africa: a candidate gene study

“…All SNPs were in Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium, with one exception where a minor deviation was observed (Kuningas et al ., 2009). We have recently reported that population stratification is unlikely to influence associations with genetic variation in autosomal genes, as analysis of autosomal DNA, mtDNA and y-chromosomal genetic variation patterns in the research area revealed that female-mediated gene flow is nearly fully random, whereas male-mediated gene flow is highly reduced (Sanchez-Faddeev et al ., 2013). This genetic substructure is an immediate result of the patrilocal society.…”