Research Article

Reconstructing the population history of Puerto Rico by means of mtDNA phylogeographic analysis

  1. Juan C. Martínez-Cruzado1,*,
  2. Gladys Toro-Labrador1,
  3. Jorge Viera-Vera1,
  4. Michelle Y. Rivera-Vega1,2,
  5. Jennifer Startek1,
  6. Magda Latorre-Esteves1,3,
  7. Alicia Román-Colón1,4,
  8. Rebecca Rivera-Torres1,5,
  9. Iris Y. Navarro-Millán1,2,
  10. Enid Gómez-Sánchez1,
  11. Héctor Y. Caro-González1,6,
  12. Patricia Valencia-Rivera1,7

Article first published online: 3 FEB 2005

DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.20108

Issue

American Journal of Physical Anthropology

American Journal of Physical Anthropology

Volume 128, Issue 1, pages 131–155, September 2005

Additional Information

How to Cite

Martínez-Cruzado, J. C., Toro-Labrador, G., Viera-Vera, J., Rivera-Vega, M. Y., Startek, J., Latorre-Esteves, M., Román-Colón, A., Rivera-Torres, R., Navarro-Millán, I. Y., Gómez-Sánchez, E., Caro-González, H. Y. and Valencia-Rivera, P. (2005), Reconstructing the population history of Puerto Rico by means of mtDNA phylogeographic analysis. Am. J. Phys. Anthropol., 128: 131–155. doi: 10.1002/ajpa.20108

Author Information

  1. 1

    Department of Biology, University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez, Mayagüez, Puerto Rico 00680

  2. 2

    Escuela de Medicina, Universidad Autónoma de Guadalajara, Guadalajara, Jalisco CP45110, Mexico

  3. 3

    Department of Pathology, Harvard Medical School, Harvard University, Boston, Massachusetts 02115

  4. 4

    Medical Sciences Campus, University of Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico 00936

  5. 5

    Department of Comparative Pathology, University of California at Davis, Davis, California 95616

  6. 6

    Department of Biological Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305

  7. 7

    Department of Cell Biology, Harvard Medical School, Harvard University, Boston, Massachusetts 02115

*Department of Biology, University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez, PO Box 9012, Mayagüez, PR 00681-9012

Publication History

  1. Issue published online: 15 AUG 2005
  2. Article first published online: 3 FEB 2005
  3. Manuscript Accepted: 29 MAR 2004
  4. Manuscript Received: 4 NOV 2003

Funded by

  • NSF. Grant Number: Physical Anthropology Program SBR-9904252

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Keywords:

  • mtDNA haplogroups;
  • Taínos;
  • principal component analysis

Abstract

The haplogroup identities of 800 mtDNAs randomly and systematically selected to be representative of the population of Puerto Rico were determined by restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP), revealing maternal ancestries in this highly mixed population of 61.3% Amerindian, 27.2% sub-Saharan African, and 11.5% West Eurasian. West Eurasian frequencies were low in all 28 municipalities sampled, and displayed no geographic patterns. Thus, a statistically significant negative correlation was observed between the Amerindian and African frequencies of the municipalities. In addition, a statistically highly significant geographic pattern was observed for Amerindian and African mtDNAs. In a scenario in which Amerindian mtDNAs prevailed on either side of longitude 66°16′ West, Amerindian mtDNAs were more frequent west of longitude 66°16′ West than east of it, and the opposite was true for African mtDNAs. Haplogroup A had the highest frequency among Amerindian samples (52.4%), suggesting its predominance among the native Taínos. Principal component analysis showed that the sub-Saharan African fraction had a strong affinity to West Africans. In addition, the magnitudes of the Senegambian and Gulf of Guinea components in Puerto Rico were between those of Cape Verde and São Tomé. Furthermore, the West Eurasian component did not conform to European haplogroup frequencies. HVR-I sequences of haplogroup U samples revealed a strong North African influence among West Eurasian mtDNAs and a new sub-Saharan African clade. Am J Phys Anthropol 128:131-155, 2005. © 2005 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

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