Deep Roots for Aboriginal Australian Y Chromosomes.

Bibliographic Collection: 
APE
Publication Type: Journal Article
Authors: Bergström, Anders; Nagle, Nano; Chen, Yuan; McCarthy, Shane; Pollard, Martin O; Ayub, Qasim; Wilcox, Stephen; Wilcox, Leah; van Oorschot, Roland A H; McAllister, Peter; Williams, Lesley; Xue, Yali; Mitchell, R John; Tyler-Smith, Chris
Year of Publication: 2016
Journal: Curr Biol
Volume: 26
Issue: 6
Pagination: 809-13
Date Published: 2016 Mar 21
Publication Language: eng
ISSN: 1879-0445
Abstract:

Australia was one of the earliest regions outside Africa to be colonized by fully modern humans, with archaeological evidence for human presence by 47,000 years ago (47 kya) widely accepted [1, 2]. However, the extent of subsequent human entry before the European colonial age is less clear. The dingo reached Australia about 4 kya, indirectly implying human contact, which some have linked to changes in language and stone tool technology to suggest substantial cultural changes at the same time [3]. Genetic data of two kinds have been proposed to support gene flow from the Indian subcontinent to Australia at this time, as well: first, signs of South Asian admixture in Aboriginal Australian genomes have been reported on the basis of genome-wide SNP data [4]; and second, a Y chromosome lineage designated haplogroup C(∗), present in both India and Australia, was estimated to have a most recent common ancestor around 5 kya and to have entered Australia from India [5]. Here, we sequence 13 Aboriginal Australian Y chromosomes to re-investigate their divergence times from Y chromosomes in other continents, including a comparison of Aboriginal Australian and South Asian haplogroup C chromosomes. We find divergence times dating back to ∼50 kya, thus excluding the Y chromosome as providing evidence for recent gene flow from India into Australia.

DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2016.01.028
Alternate Journal: Curr. Biol.