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Eight thousand years of natural selection in Europe
- Publication Year :
- 2015
- Publisher :
- Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, 2015.
-
Abstract
- The arrival of farming in Europe around 8,500 years ago necessitated adaptation to new environments, pathogens, diets, and social organizations. While indirect evidence of adaptation can be detected in patterns of genetic variation in present-day people, ancient DNA makes it possible to witness selection directly by analyzing samples from populations before, during and after adaptation events. Here we report the first genome-wide scan for selection using ancient DNA, capitalizing on the largest genome-wide dataset yet assembled: 230 West Eurasians dating to between 6500 and 1000 BCE, including 163 with newly reported data. The new samples include the first genome-wide data from the Anatolian Neolithic culture, who we show were members of the population that was the source of Europe's first farmers, and whose genetic material we extracted by focusing on the DNA-rich petrous bone. We identify genome-wide significant signatures of selection at loci associated with diet, pigmentation and immunity, and two independent episodes of selection on height.
- Subjects :
- Genetics
0303 health sciences
education.field_of_study
Natural selection
Population
Biology
Indirect evidence
03 medical and health sciences
0302 clinical medicine
Ancient DNA
Evolutionary biology
Genetic variation
Adaptation
education
Social organization
030217 neurology & neurosurgery
Selection (genetic algorithm)
030304 developmental biology
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....b26b0879ff4621986edcd66053201083
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1101/016477