Genetic history of Chad.

ABSTRACT:

Objectives

The Sahel is a semi-arid zone stretching from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Red Sea in the east and from the Sahara in the north to the Sudanian Savanna in the south. Here, we investigated the genetic history of the spread of Northern African ancestry common among Berbers, the Y DNA haplogroup R1b-V88, and Chadic languages throughout the Sahel, with a focus on Chad.

Materials and methods

We integrated and analyzed genotype data from 751 individuals from Chad, Burkina Faso, Mali, South Sudan, and Sudan in the context of a global reference panel of 5,966 individuals.

Results

We found that genetic diversity in Chad was broadly divided by a north-south axis. The core ancestry of Southern Chadians was Central African, most closely related to Pygmies. Sou

SUBMITTER: Shriner D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6240361 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature