Isolation and prominent aboriginal maternal legacy in the present-day population of La Gomera (Canary Islands).

ABSTRACT: The present-day population structure of La Gomera is outstanding in its high aboriginal heritage, the greatest in the Canary Islands. This was earlier confirmed by both mitochondrial DNA and autosomal analyses, although genetic drift due to the fifteenth century European colonization could not be excluded as the main factor responsible. The present mtDNA study of aboriginal remains and extant samples from the six municipal districts of the island indeed demonstrates that the pre-Hispanic colonization of La Gomera by North African people involved a strong founder event, shown by the high frequency of the indigenous Canarian U6b1a lineage in the aboriginal samples (65%). This value is even greater than that observed in the extant population (44%), which in turn is the highest of all the seve

SUBMITTER: Fregel R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4538205 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature