Mitochondrial DNA
Many studies have attempted to describe the genetic diversity of Northwest-African populations, evaluating mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequence variation and the results may be summarized as follows (data for 536 individuals from 9 populations : Morocco (Asni, Bouhria, Figuig, Souss), Algeria (Mozabites), Tunisia (Chenini-Douiret, Sened, Matmata, Jerba)):
- Total Eurasian lineages (H, HV0, HV, R0, J, T, U (without U6), K, N1, N2, X) : 50-90% with an average of about 5/8
- Total sub-Saharan lineages (L0, L1, L2, L3, L4-L5) : 3-50% with an average of about 2/8
- Total North African lineages (U6, M1) : 0-35% with an average of about 1/8
The Northwest-African mtDna pool is characterized by an "overall high frequency of Western Eurasian haplogroups, a somehow lower frequency of sub-Saharan L lineages, and a significant (but differential) presence of North African haplogroups U6 and M1." According to Cherni et al. 2009 "the post-Last glacial maximum expansion originating in Iberia not only led to the resettlement of Europe but also of North Africa".
According to an Ottoni et al. 2010, besides the "autochthonous" South-Saharan component, the maternal pool of Northern Africa appears to be characterized by at least two other major components: (i) a Levantine contribution (i.e. haplogroups U6 and M1), associated with the return to Africa around 45 kya, and (ii) a more recent West European input associated with the postglacial expansion.
Until recently, some papers suggested that the distribution of the main L haplogroups in North Africa was mainly due to trans-Saharan slave trade. However in September 2010, a thorough study about Berber mtDNA by Frigi et al. concluded that most of L haplogroups were much older and introduced by an ancient African gene flow around 20,000 years ago.
Read more about this topic: Maghrebis, Anthropology, Genetics and Linguistics, Genetic Evidence
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