Natural selection for the Duffy-null allele in the recently admixed people of Madagascar.

ABSTRACT: While gene flow between distantly related populations is increasingly recognized as a potentially important source of adaptive genetic variation for humans, fully characterized examples are rare. In addition, the role that natural selection for resistance to vivax malaria may have played in the extreme distribution of the protective Duffy-null allele, which is nearly completely fixed in mainland sub-Saharan Africa and absent elsewhere, is controversial. We address both these issues by investigating the evolution of the Duffy-null allele in the Malagasy, a recently admixed population with major ancestry components from both East Asia and mainland sub-Saharan Africa. We used genome-wide genetic data and extensive computer simulations to show that the high frequency of the Duffy-null allele i

SUBMITTER: Hodgson JA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4100512 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature