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Migration distance rather than migration rate explains genetic diversity in human patrilocal groups
Article first published online: 5 JUL 2012
DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-294X.2012.05689.x
© 2012 Blackwell Publishing Ltd
1365-294X/asset/cover.gif?v=1&s=1d40fdbd0063eadc4dbe65d8d325c6d6172a0acf "Molecular Ecology")
Additional Information
How to Cite
MARKS, S. J., LEVY, H., MARTINEZ-CADENAS, C., MONTINARO, F. and CAPELLI, C. (2012), Migration distance rather than migration rate explains genetic diversity in human patrilocal groups. Molecular Ecology, 21: 4958–4969. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-294X.2012.05689.x
Publication History
- Issue published online: 11 OCT 2012
- Article first published online: 5 JUL 2012
- Received 2 March 2012; revision received 15 May 2012; accepted 23 May 2012
Keywords:
- human genetic variation;
- migration distance;
- migration rate;
- patrilocality
Abstract
In patrilocal groups, females preferentially move to join their mate’s paternal relatives. The gender-biased gene flow generated by this cultural practice is expected to affect genetic diversity across human populations. Greater female than male migration is predicted to result in a larger decrease in between-group differentiation for mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) than for the non-recombining part of the Y chromosome (NRY). We address the question of how patrilocality affects the distribution of genetic variation in human populations controlling for confounding factors such as ethno-linguistic heterogeneity and geographic distance which possibly explain the contradictory results observed in previous studies. By combining genetic and bio-demographic data from Lesotho and Spain, we show that preferential female migration over short distances appears to minimize the impact of a generally higher female migration rate in patrilocal communities, suggesting patrilocality might influence genetic variation only at short ranges.