Saami and Berbers - an unexpected mitochondrial DNA link

The sequencing of entire human mitochondrial DNAs belonging to haplogroup U reveals that this clade arose shortly after the "out of Africa" exit and rapidly radiated into numerous regionally distinct subclades. Intriguingly, the Saami of Scandinavia and the Berbers of North Africa were fou...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The American Journal of Human Genetics
Main Authors: ACHILLI, Alessandro, BABUDRI, Nora, Rengo C, Battaglia V, Pala M, Olivieri A, Fornarino S, Magri C, Scozzari R, Santachiara Benerecetti AS, Bandelt HJ, Semino O, Torroni A.
Other Authors: Achilli, Alessandro, Rengo, C, Battaglia, V, Pala, M, Olivieri, A, Fornarino, S, Magri, C, Scozzari, R, Babudri, Nora, Santachiara Benerecetti, A, Bandelt, Hj, Semino, O, Torroni, A.
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: 2005
Subjects:
mtDNA
Human origin
Saami and Berbers
saami
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/11391/174136
https://doi.org/10.1086/430073
Description
Summary:The sequencing of entire human mitochondrial DNAs belonging to haplogroup U reveals that this clade arose shortly after the "out of Africa" exit and rapidly radiated into numerous regionally distinct subclades. Intriguingly, the Saami of Scandinavia and the Berbers of North Africa were found to share an extremely young branch, aged merely approximately 9,000 years. This unexpected finding not only confirms that the Franco-Cantabrian refuge area of southwestern Europe was the source of late-glacial expansions of hunter-gatherers that repopulated northern Europe after the Last Glacial Maximum but also reveals a direct maternal link between those European hunter-gatherer populations and the Berbers.

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