Human Biology Open Access Pre-Prints

Authors

Graciela S. Cabana, University of Tennessee, KnoxvilleFollow
Cecil M. Lewis, Jr., University of Oklahoma Norman CampusFollow
Raúl Y. Tito, University of Oklahoma Norman Campus
R. Alan Covey, University of Texas, AustinFollow
Angela M. Cáceres, Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Lima, Perú
C. Leslie Castillo Pampas, Universidad Ricardo Palma, Lima, PerúFollow
Augusto F. De La Cruz, Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Lima, PerúFollow
Diana Durand, University of ArkansasFollow
Genevieve Housman, Arizona State UniversityFollow
Brannon I. Hulsey, University of Tennessee, KnoxvilleFollow
Gian Carlo Iannacone, Instituto de Medicina Legal, Ministerio Publico, Lima, PerúFollow
Paul W. Lopez, Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Lima, Perú
Rolando Martínez, Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Lima, PerúFollow
Ángel Medina, Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Lima, PerúFollow
Olimpio Ortega Dávila, Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Lima, PerúFollow
Karla Paloma Osorio Pinto, Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Lima, PerúFollow
Susan I. Polo Santillán, Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Lima, PerúFollow
Percy Rojas Domínguez, Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Lima, PerúFollow
Meagan Rubel, University of PennsylvaniaFollow
Heather F. Smith, Midwestern University
Silvia E. Smith, University of Idaho, MoscowFollow
Verónica Rubín de Celis, Universidad Ricardo Palma, Lima, Perú
Beatriz Lizárraga, Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Lima, PerúFollow
Anne C. Stone, Arizona State UniversityFollow

Document Type

Open Access Preprint

Anticipated Volume

86

Anticipated Issue

3

Abstract

Molecular-based characterizations of Andean peoples are traditionally conducted in the service of elucidating continental-level evolutionary processes in South America. Consequently, “western” Andean population genetic variation is often represented in relation to “eastern” variation among Amazon and Orinoco River Basin populations. This west-east contrast in patterns of population genetic variation is typically attributed to large-scale phenomena, such as dual founder colonization events and/or differing long-term microevolutionary histories. However, alternative explanations that consider the nature and causes of population genetic diversity within the Andean region remain underexplored.

Here we examine population genetic diversity in the Peruvian Central Andes using mtDNA HVI and Y-chromosome STR data from 17 newly sampled populations combined with published samples. Using this geographically comprehensive data set, we first re-assess the currently accepted pattern of western vs. eastern population genetic structure, which our results ultimately reject: mtDNA population diversities were lower, rather than higher, within Andean versus eastern populations, and only highland Y-chromosomes exhibited significantly higher within-population diversities compared to eastern groups. Multiple populations, including several highland samples, exhibited low genetic diversities for both genetic systems. Second, we explore whether the implementation of Inca state and Spanish colonial policies starting at about A.D. 1400 could have substantially restructured population genetic variation, and consequently constitute a primary explanation for the extant pattern of population diversity in the Peruvian Central Andes. Our results suggest that Peruvian Central Andean population structure cannot be parsimoniously explained as the sole outcome of combined Inca and Spanish policies on the region’s population demography: Highland populations differed from coastal and lowland populations in mtDNA genetic structure only; highland groups also show strong evidence of female-biased gene flow and/or effective sizes relative to other Peruvian ecozones. Taken together, these findings indicate that population genetic structure in the Peruvian Central Andes is considerably more complex than previously reported and that characterizations of, and explanations for, genetic variation may be best pursued within more localized regions and defined time periods.

01_Cabana_Suppl Appendix_S1.xlsx (2609 kB)
Supplemental Appendix S1: 1. Spreadsheet S1: Complete population data for 17 population samples from the Peruvian Central Andes; 2-5. Spreadsheets S1A-S1D: Haplogroups A-D

02_Cabana_Suppl Appendix_S2.xlsx (30 kB)
Supplemental Appendix S2. Y-Chromosome Haplogroup and Haplotype Data in Nine Population Samples from the Peruvian Central Andes

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