Patterns of ancestry, signatures of natural selection, and genetic association with stature in Western African pygmies.

ABSTRACT: African Pygmy groups show a distinctive pattern of phenotypic variation, including short stature, which is thought to reflect past adaptation to a tropical environment. Here, we analyze Illumina 1M SNP array data in three Western Pygmy populations from Cameroon and three neighboring Bantu-speaking agricultural populations with whom they have admixed. We infer genome-wide ancestry, scan for signals of positive selection, and perform targeted genetic association with measured height variation. We identify multiple regions throughout the genome that may have played a role in adaptive evolution, many of which contain loci with roles in growth hormone, insulin, and insulin-like growth factor signaling pathways, as well as immunity and neuroendocrine signaling involved in reproduction and metabo

SUBMITTER: Jarvis JP 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3343053 | biostudies-literature | 2012

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature