2007/01/01 by Andrea Rita Marrero, Cláudio M. Bravi, Steven Stuart +8 · 4 citations
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · Social Sciences · #Forensic and Genetic Research #Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology #Language and cultural evolution #Mitochondrial DNA #Genetics #Biology #Population #mtDNA control region #Extant taxon #Founder effect #Gene pool #Y chromosome #Evolutionary biology #Hypervariable region #Gene #Haplotype #Demography #Allele #Genetic diversity
paper · doi:10.1159/000102989
openalex publication_date 2007/01/01 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/27
OBJECTIVE: To investigate the evolutionary and demographic history of the Gaucho, a distinct population of southern Brazil, relating it to their culture, to assess possible parallel continuity. METHODS: Six binary polymorphisms, an Alu insertion polymorphism (YAP) and 12 short tandem repeat loci in the non-recombining region of the Y-chromosome, as well as the sequence of the first hypervariable segment (HVS-I) of the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) control region were studied in 150 unrelated males born in the Pampa region of Rio Grande do Sul. RESULTS: Comparison of the results with the other Brazilian and Uruguayan populations, as well as with their putative ancestors, indicated a stronger male Spanish influence than that observed elsewhere in Brazil, a former Portuguese colony. Extensive mtDNA analyses of their Amerindian component gave clear indications of the presence there of material from extinct (Charrua), as well as extant (Guarani) tribes. CONCLUSIONS: The genetic analyses contributed in a significant way to reveal that the known cultural continuity between pre- and post-Columbian Pampa populations was also accompanied by an extraordinary genetic continuity.