Geographic variation of human mitochondrial DNA from Papua New Guinea

Journal Article · Thu Mar 01 00:00:00 EST 1990 · Genetics; (USA)

OSTI ID:6794283

Stoneking, M; Wilson, A C ^[1]; Jorde, L B ^[2]; Bhatia, K ^[3]

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1. Univ. of California, Berkeley (USA)
2. Univ. of Utah School of Medicine, Salt Lake City (USA)
3. Papua New Guinea Institute of Medical Research (New Guinea)

High resolution mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) restriction maps, consisting of an average of 370 sites per mtDNA map, were constructed for 119 people from 25 localities in Papua, New Guinea (PNG). Comparison of these PNG restriction maps to published maps from Australian, Caucasian, Asian and African mtDNAs reveals that PNG has the lowest amount of mtDNA variation, and that PNG mtDNA lineages originated from Southeast Asia. The statistical significance of geographic structuring of populations with respect to mtDNA was assessed by comparing observed G{sub ST} values to a distribution of G{sub ST} values generated by random resampling of the data. These analyses show that there is significant structuring of mtDNA variation among worldwide populations, between highland and coastal PNG populations, and even between two highland PNG populations located approximately 200 km apart. However, coastal PNG populations are essentially panmictic, despite being spread over several hundred kilometers. The high resolution technique for examining mtDNA variation, coupled with extensive geographic sampling within a single defined area, leads to an enhanced understanding of the influence of geography on mtDNA variation in human populations.

• OSTI ID: 6794283
• Journal Information: Genetics; (USA), Vol. 124:3; ISSN 0016-6731
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
DNA
GEOGRAPHICAL VARIATIONS
HUMAN POPULATIONS
GENETIC VARIABILITY
GENETIC MAPPING
MITOCHONDRIA
NATURAL LANGUAGE
PAPUA NEW GUINEA
ASIA
AUSTRALASIA
BIOLOGICAL VARIABILITY
CELL CONSTITUENTS
ISLANDS
MAPPING
NEW GUINEA
NUCLEIC ACIDS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
ORGANOIDS
POPULATIONS
PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES
VARIATIONS
550400* - Genetics