Signatures of Convergent Evolution and Natural Selection at the Alcohol Dehydrogenase Gene Region are Correlated with Agriculture in Ethnically Diverse Africans.

ABSTRACT: The alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) family of genes encodes enzymes that catalyze the metabolism of ethanol into acetaldehyde. Nucleotide variation in ADH genes can affect the catalytic properties of these enzymes and is associated with a variety of traits, including alcoholism and cancer. Some ADH variants, including the ADH1B*48His (rs1229984) mutation in the ADH1B gene, reduce the risk of alcoholism and are under positive selection in multiple human populations. The advent of Neolithic agriculture and associated increase in fermented foods and beverages is hypothesized to have been a selective force acting on such variants. However, this hypothesis has not been tested in populations outside of Asia. Here, we use genome-wide selection scans to show that the ADH gene region is enriched for va

SUBMITTER: McQuillan MA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9547508 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature