Little genetic differentiation as assessed by uniparental markers in the presence of substantial language variation in peoples of the Cross River region of Nigeria

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The Cross River region in Nigeria is an extremely diverse area linguistically with over 60 distinct languages still spoken today. It is also a region of great historical importance, being a) adjacent to the likely homeland from which Bantu-speaking people migrated across most of sub-Saharan Africa 3000-5000 years ago and b) the location of Calabar, one of the largest centres during the Atlantic slave trade. Over 1000 DNA samples from 24 clans representing speakers of the six most prominent languages in the region were collected and typed for Y-chromosome (SNPs and microsatellites) and mtDNA markers (Hypervariable Segment 1) in order to examine whether there has been substantial gene flow between groups speaking different languages in the region. In addition the Cross River region was analysed in the context of a larger geographical scale by comparison to bordering Igbo speaking groups as well as neighbouring Cameroon populations and more distant Ghanaian communities.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The Cross River region was shown to be extremely homogenous for both Y-chromosome and mtDNA markers with language spoken having no noticeable effect on the genetic structure of the region, consistent with estimates of inter-language gene flow of 10% per generation based on sociological data. However the groups in the region could clearly be differentiated from others in Cameroon and Ghana (and to a lesser extent Igbo populations). Significant correlations between genetic distance and both geographic and linguistic distance were observed at this larger scale.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Previous studies have found significant correlations between genetic variation and language in Africa over large geographic distances, often across language families. However the broad sampling strategies of these datasets have limited their utility for understanding the relationship within language families. This is the first study to show that at very fine geographic/linguistic scales language differences can be maintained in the presence of substantial gene flow over an extended period of time and demonstrates the value of dense sampling strategies and having DNA of known and detailed provenance, a practice that is generally rare when investigating sub-Saharan African demographic processes using genetic data.</p

Electric dipole moments and the search for new physics

Static electric dipole moments of nondegenerate systems probe mass scales for physics beyond the Standard Model well beyond those reached directly at high energy colliders. Discrimination between different physics models, however, requires complementary searches in atomic-molecular-and-optical, nuclear and particle physics. In this report, we discuss the current status and prospects in the near future for a compelling suite of such experiments, along with developments needed in the encompassing theoretical framework.Comment: Contribution to Snowmass 2021; updated with community edits and endorsement

Molecular diversity and population structure at the Cytochrome P450 3A5 gene in Africa

Background: Cytochrome P450 3A5 (CYP3A5) is an enzyme involved in the metabolism of many therapeutic drugs. CYP3A5 expression levels vary between individuals and populations, and this contributes to adverse clinical outcomes. Variable expression is largely attributed to four alleles, CYP3A5*1 (expresser allele); CYP3A5*3 (rs776746), CYP3A5*6 (rs10264272) and CYP3A5*7 (rs41303343) (low/non-expresser alleles). Little is known about CYP3A5 variability in Africa, a region with considerable genetic diversity. Here we used a multi-disciplinary approach to characterize CYP3A5 variation in geographically and ethnically diverse populations from in and around Africa, and infer the evolutionary processes that have shaped patterns of diversity in this gene. We genotyped 2538 individuals from 36 diverse populations in and around Africa for common low/non-expresser CYP3A5 alleles, and re-sequenced the CYP3A5 gene in five Ethiopian ethnic groups. We estimated the ages of low/non-expresser CYP3A5 alleles using a linked microsatellite and assuming a step-wise mutation model of evolution. Finally, we examined a hypothesis that CYP3A5 is important in salt retention adaptation by performing correlations with ecological data relating to aridity for the present day, 10,000 and 50,000 years ago. Results: We estimate that similar to 43% of individuals within our African dataset express CYP3A5, which is lower than previous independent estimates for the region. We found significant intra-African variability in CYP3A5 expression phenotypes. Within Africa the highest frequencies of high-activity alleles were observed in equatorial and Niger-Congo speaking populations. Ethiopian allele frequencies were intermediate between those of other sub-Saharan African and non-African groups. Re-sequencing of CYP3A5 identified few additional variants likely to affect CYP3A5 expression. We estimate the ages of CYP3A5*3 as similar to 76,400 years and CYP3A5*6 as similar to 218,400 years. Finally we report that global CYP3A5 expression levels correlated significantly with aridity measures for 10,000 [Spearmann's Rho= -0.465, p=0.004] and 50,000 years ago [Spearmann's Rho= -0.379, p=0.02]. Conclusions: Significant intra-African diversity at the CYP3A5 gene is likely to contribute to multiple pharmacogenetic profiles across the continent. Significant correlations between CYP3A5 expression phenotypes and aridity data are consistent with a hypothesis that the enzyme is important in salt-retention adaptation

Analysis of European case-control studies suggests that common inherited variation in mitochondrial DNA is not involved in susceptibility to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

While some cases of familial ALS can be entirely attributed to known inherited variation, the majority (?90%) are sporadic, where the cause(s) are not entirely understood. Both genetic and environmental factors may contribute to susceptibility. Mitochondrial damage, a common feature of neurodegenerative disease, is observed in most patients and inherited polymorphism in the mitochondrial genome has been suggested as a contributing factor. We used an economic and efficient method to test whether such involvement is probable. We genotyped 22 mtDNA coding region SNPs and sequenced the mtDNA hypervariable region 1 to determine the position of each mitochondrial genome within the genealogy of mitochondrial haplotypes in samples of ALS patients (n =?700) and controls (n =?462) from two European populations. We compared haplotype and haplogroup distribution in cases and controls drawn from the same populations. No statistical difference was observed between cases and controls at either the haplogroup or haplotype level (p = ??0.2). In conclusion, it is unlikely that common, shared genetic variants in the mitochondrial genome contribute substantially to ALS. Combining the data with other studies will allow meta-analysis to look for variants with modest effect sizes. The sequencing of complete mitochondrial genomes will be required to assess the role of rare mutations

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