Mitochondrial DNA Variation in Southern Tunisian Populations

Document Type

Article

Authors

Marco Capocasa, Department of Environmental Biology, Sapienza University of Rome, ItalyFollow
Cinzia Battaggia, Department of Environmental Biology, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy
Emanuele Cancellieri, Department of Science of Antiquities, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy
Alessandro Lisi, Department of Environmental Biology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
Mattia Polimanti, Department of Environmental Biology, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy
Nouri Boukhchim, Institut préparatoire aux études littéraires et sciences humaines, University of Tunis, Tunisia
Giovanni Destro Bisol, Department of Environmental Biology, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
Savino di Lernia, Department of Science of Antiquities, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy
Paolo Anagnostou, Department of Environmental Biology, Sapienza University of Rome, ItalyFollow

Abstract

Due to its complex history of migrations and colonization of African, European, and Asian people, the Tunisian territory is an ideal area to study the e fects of cultural change on the genetic structure of human populations. This study investigated genetic variation in the mitochondrial DNA of Tunisian populations to detect the possible impact of recent historical events on their gene pool. Two Arab and three Berber communities were analyzed using a comparison data set of    other populations comprising African, Arabian, Asian, European, and Near Eastern groups. Results were compared with those produced using a large panel of autosomal single-nucleotide polymorphisms. We observed a slight but important di ference between the populations that inhabit the southern and central-northern areas of Tunisia. Furthermore, robust signatures of genetic isolation were detected in two Berber populations (Nouvelle Zraoua and Tamezret) and in the R’Baya people, a seminomadic Arab group. This investigation suggests that the genetic structure of investigated southern Tunisian populations retains signatures of historical events that occurred between the  th and   th centuries, particularly the trans-Saharan slave trade and the emigration of Berbers in remote areas of the south during the Arab conquest.

Recommended Citation

Capocasa, Marco; Battaggia, Cinzia; Cancellieri, Emanuele; Lisi, Alessandro; Polimanti, Mattia; Boukhchim, Nouri; Destro Bisol, Giovanni; di Lernia, Savino; and Anagnostou, Paolo (2022) "Mitochondrial DNA Variation in Southern Tunisian Populations," Human Biology: Vol. 94: Iss. 3, Article 1.
Available at: https://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/humbiol/vol94/iss3/1