Mitochondrial DNA, Y chromosome and human population history

作者：Quintana Murci L; Veitia R; Santachiara Benerecetti S; McElreavey K; Fellous M; Bourgeron T^*

来源：Medecine Sciences, 1999, 15(8-9): 974-982.

Many disciplines such as archaeology, anthropology, linguistic and palaeontology are involved in the study of human origins. More recently, genetics and molecular biology have been used to shed light on human origins. For many years, geneticists have studied the DNA variations among individuals and populations in order to establish relationships between different populations. Of the DNA markers available, the most interesting are the uniparental inherited markers, which are the maternally inherited mtDNA and the paternally inherited Y-chromosome. They both escape from regular recombinational precesses at meiosis and, consequently, these markers are transmitted together as haplotypes preserving a unique record of mutational changes that have occurred in previous generations. While X chromosomes and autosomes each have multiple ancestors because of recombination, all modem mtDNAs could have a single maternal ancestor and Y-chromosomes could have a single paternal ancestor. Here iue review the general characteristics of the Y chromosome and the mtDNA and, using specific examples, we show how haplotypes can be used to determine human origins and study different population interactions in historical times.

• 出版日期1999-9