Project description:The Roma population is a European ethnic minority characterized by recent and multiple dispersals and founder effects. After their origin in South Asia around 1,500 years ago, they migrated West. In Europe, they diverged into ethnolinguistically distinct migrant groups that spread across the continent. Previous genetic studies based on genome-wide data and uniparental markers detected Roma founder events and West-Eurasian gene flow. However, to the best of our knowledge, it has not been assessed whether these demographic processes have equally affected both sexes in the population. The present study uses the largest and most comprehensive dataset of complete mitochondrial and Y chromosome Roma sequences to unravel the sex-biased patterns that have shaped their genetic history. The results show that the Roma maternal genetic pool carries a higher lineage diversity from South Asia, as opposed to a single paternal South Asian lineage. Nonetheless, the European gene flow events mainly occurred through the maternal lineages; however, a signal of this gene flow is also traceable in the paternal lineages. We also detect a higher female migration rate among European Roma groups. Altogether, these results suggest that sociocultural factors influenced the emergence of sex-biased genetic patterns at global and local scales in the Roma population through time.
Project description:Present day Roma genome were shaped by the extensive inbreeding and admixture during their Diaspora. Here, we shed light on the Roma demographic history by analyzing the whole genome sequence of 46 Roma individuals pertaining to four migrant groups in six European countries. The strong reduction in effective population size (~44%), that occurred around 2kya, was not masked by the subsequent high admixture in Middle Eastern and European countries.
Project description:The identification of genetic and epigenetic alterations from primary tumor cells has become a common method to identify genes critical to the development and progression of cancer. We provide a bioinformatic analysis of copy number variation and DNA methylation covering the genetic landscape of ovarian cancer tumor cells. We individually examined the copy number variation and DNA methylation for 44 primary ovarian cancer samples and 7 ovarian normal samples using our MOMA-ROMA technology and Affymetrix expression data as well as 379 tumor samples analyzed by The Cancer Genome Atlas. We have identified 346 genes with significant deletions or amplifications among the tumor samples. Utilizing associated gene expression data we predict 156 genes with significantly altered copy number and correlated changes in expression. We identify changes in DNA methylation and expression for all amplified and deleted genes. We predicted 615 potential oncogenes and tumor suppressors candidates by integrating these multiple genomic and epigenetic data types. This ROMA experiment was performed on Ovarian Tumor samples using the same platform as previously reported by Navin, N. et. al. Genome Res. 2010 Jan;20(1):68-80 (PMID: 19903760). Analysis of the array data was performed as previously reported in Chen, S. et. al. Cancer Biol Ther. 2008 Nov;7(11):1793-802. (PMID: 18836286 ).
Project description:The Roma people are the largest transnational ethnic minority in Europe and can be considered the last human migration of South Asian origin into the continent. They departed Northwest India approximately 1,000 years ago, reaching the Balkan Peninsula around the 12th century and Romania in the 14th century. Here, we generated whole-genome sequencing data of Roma (Romani/Rroma) and non-Roma (European/Romanian) individuals from Romania. We performed a genome-wide scan of selection comparing the Roma, their local host population (Romanians), and a Northwestern Indian population to identify the selective pressures faced by the Roma when they settled in Europe.
Project description:Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) haplotypes are associated with phenotypes and disease. To understand how mtDNA haplotypes induce these characteristics, we used four embryonic stem cell lines that have the same set of chromosomes but possess different mtDNA haplotypes. We show that mtDNA haplotypes influence changes in chromosomal gene expression and affinity for nuclear-encoded mtDNA replication factors to modulate mtDNA copy number, two events that act synchronously during differentiation. Global DNA methylation analysis showed that each haplotype induces distinct DNA methylation patterns, which, when modulated by DNA demethylation agents resulted in skewed gene expression patterns that highlight the effectiveness of the new DNA methylation patterns established by each haplotype. The haplotypes differentially regulate α-ketoglutarate, a metabolite from the TCA cycle that modulates the TET family of proteins, which catalyse the transition from 5-methylcytosine (DNA methylation) to 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (DNA demethylation). Our outcomes show a direct link between mtDNA haplotypes and DNA methylation profiles.
Project description:The identification of genetic and epigenetic alterations from primary tumor cells has become a common method to identify genes critical to the development and progression of cancer. We provide a bioinformatic analysis of copy number variation and DNA methylation covering the genetic landscape of ovarian cancer tumor cells. We individually examined the copy number variation and DNA methylation for 44 primary ovarian cancer samples and 7 ovarian normal samples using our MOMA-ROMA technology and Affymetrix expression data as well as 379 tumor samples analyzed by The Cancer Genome Atlas. We have identified 346 genes with significant deletions or amplifications among the tumor samples. Utilizing associated gene expression data we predict 156 genes with significantly altered copy number and correlated changes in expression. We identify changes in DNA methylation and expression for all amplified and deleted genes. We predicted 615 potential oncogenes and tumor suppressors candidates by integrating these multiple genomic and epigenetic data types. This ROMA experiment was performed on Ovarian Tumor samples using the same platform as previously reported by Navin, N. et. al. Genome Res. 2010 Jan;20(1):68-80 (PMID: 19903760). Analysis of the array data was performed as previously reported in Chen, S. et. al. Cancer Biol Ther. 2008 Nov;7(11):1793-802. (PMID: 18836286 ). The genomic DNA from each tumor was labeled with Cy5 and hybridized to an 85K Bgl2 ROMA Microarray. A normal reference male fibroblast was labeled with Cy3 as a control. The value data repesents a log ratio. (As previously reported Chen, S. et. al. Cancer Biol Ther. 2008 Nov;7(11):1793-802. PMID: 18836286 ).
Project description:Modern genetic data combined with appropriate statistical methods have the potential to contribute substantially to our understanding of human history. We have developed an approach that exploits the genomic structure of admixed populations to date and characterize historical mixture events at fine scales. We used this to produce an atlas of worldwide human admixture history, constructed using genetic data alone and encompassing over 100 events occurring over the past 4,000 years. We identify events whose dates and participants suggest they describe genetic impacts of the Mongol Empire, Arab slave trade, Bantu expansion, first millennium CE migrations in eastern Europe, and European colonialism, as well as unrecorded events, revealing admixture to be an almost universal force shaping human populations.
Project description:Modern genetic data combined with appropriate statistical methods have the potential to contribute substantially to our understanding of human history. We have developed an approach that exploits the genomic structure of admixed populations to date and characterize historical mixture events at fine scales. We used this to produce an atlas of worldwide human admixture history, constructed using genetic data alone and encompassing over 100 events occurring over the past 4,000 years. We identify events whose dates and participants suggest they describe genetic impacts of the Mongol Empire, Arab slave trade, Bantu expansion, first millennium CE migrations in eastern Europe, and European colonialism, as well as unrecorded events, revealing admixture to be an almost universal force shaping human populations. 158 indviduals of Eurasian descent included as part of a global analysis of admixture
Project description:The 8-10 million European Roma/Gypsies are a founder population of common origins that has subsequently split into multiple socially divergent and geographically dispersed Gypsy groups. Unlike other founder populations, whose genealogy has been extensively documented, the demographic history of the Gypsies is not fully understood and, given the lack of written records, has to be inferred from current genetic data. In this study, we have used five disease loci harboring private Gypsy mutations to examine some missing historical parameters and current structure. We analyzed the frequency distribution of the five mutations in 832-1,363 unrelated controls, representing 14 Gypsy populations, and the diversification of chromosomal haplotypes in 501 members of affected families. Sharing of mutations and high carrier rates supported a strong founder effect, and the identity of the congenital myasthenia 1267delG mutation in Gypsy and Indian/Pakistani chromosomes provided the best evidence yet of the Indian origins of the Gypsies. However, dramatic differences in mutation frequencies and haplotype divergence and very limited haplotype sharing pointed to strong internal differentiation and characterized the Gypsies as a founder population comprising multiple subisolates. Using disease haplotype coalescence times at the different loci, we estimated that the entire Gypsy population was founded approximately 32-40 generations ago, with secondary and tertiary founder events occurring approximately 16-25 generations ago. The existence of multiple subisolates, with endogamy maintained to the present day, suggests a general approach to complex disorders in which initial gene mapping could be performed in large families from a single Gypsy group, whereas fine mapping would rely on the informed sampling of the divergent subisolates and searching for the shared genomic region that displays the strongest linkage disequilibrium with the disease.
Project description:The Roma are the most numerous ethnic minority in Europe. The Iberian Roma arrived in the Iberian Peninsula five centuries ago and still today, they keep a strong group identity. Demographic and cultural reasons lie behind a high rate of Mendelian disease often related to founder variants. We have analysed exome data from 119 Iberian Roma individuals collected from 2018 to 2020. A database of variant frequency has been implemented (IRPVS) and made available online. We have analysed the carrier rate of founder private alleles as well as pathogenic variants present in the general population. Significant enrichment in structural variants involving gene clusters related to keratinization and epidermal growth suggest that evolutive mechanisms have developed towards climate and environmental adaptation. IRPVS can be accessed at http://irpvs.clinbioinfosspa.es/