Search

The genome ancestry of the Azorean population is assessed through analysis of six Alu polymorphic sites in 65 Azoreans and 30 Portuguese unrelated blood donors and compare data for Y-chromosome and mtDNA. Results reveal that the population of the Azores shows no significant genetic differences from that of mainland Portugal and that it is an outbred population.

Based on 2,454 different surnames present in the Azorean telephone directory, specificity and spatial distribution analysis was performed to obtain a better understanding of genetic structure of the Azorean population. A majority of positive values were shown for distances lower than 49 Km and between 269-309 Km that indicated high similarity between closer places and between distant places whose populations showed historic and sociocultural affinities.