The episode of genetic drift defining the migration of humans out of Africa is derived from a large east African population size.

ABSTRACT: Human genetic variation particularly in Africa is still poorly understood. This is despite a consensus on the large African effective population size compared to populations from other continents. Based on sequencing of the mitochondrial Cytochrome C Oxidase subunit II (MT-CO2), and genome wide microsatellite data we observe evidence suggesting the effective size (Ne) of humans to be larger than the current estimates, with a foci of increased genetic diversity in east Africa, and a population size of east Africans being at least 2-6 fold larger than other populations. Both phylogenetic and network analysis indicate that east Africans possess more ancestral lineages in comparison to various continental populations placing them at the root of the human evolutionary tree. Our results also aff

SUBMITTER: Elhassan N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4028218 | biostudies-literature | 2014

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature