Search

Background: It is thought that the ancient population of Libya was mainly composed of Saharan Berbers. Socio-geographic conditions and historical events have exerted some changes on the composition of the present-day Libyan population., Aim: To screen a set of autosomal Alu markers in a representative sample of the general Libyan population in order to study its ethnic and genetic structure and to re-examine its genetic relationships with Mediterranean and Middle Eastern groups., Subjects and Methods: A sample of 190 Libyans was analysed for 17 Alu insertions. The sample was divided according to the Arabic or Berber origin of individuals' surnames., Results: The current general Libyan population is homogeneous and shows considerable genetic diversity compared with other North Mediterranean and North African populations. It shows intermediate genetic distances between Moroccans, Algerians and Tunisians on one side and Egyptian Siwa Berbers on the other. No particular affinities with Middle Eastern groups were detected., Conclusion: Alu insertions are useful markers to contribute to the reconstruction of human population history at a microgeographic scale, in particular when the analyses include anthropologically well sampled populations. The present results provide new information to improve understanding some aspects of the complex peopling of North Africa.

Background: The geographical location of Egypt at the crossroads of several major cultural areas between North Africa and the Middle East has contributed to its population history., Aim: To analyse the genetic structure of the population living in two geographical parts of Egypt., Subjects and Methods: A sample of 112 Egyptians from the North African part of Egypt (Ismailia sample) and a sample of 52 Egyptians from the Asian part Sinai, have been analysed using 10 Alu insertion polymorphisms., Results: The results of the present study showed a significant genetic difference between the Sinai and Ismailia samples. The latter showed an evident genetic affinity with North African populations; whereas the Sinai sample was found to be genetically closer to the Middle East populations. The Sinai sample showed a low average heterozygosity, unlike that found in the Ismailia sample., Conclusion: This study provides new insights into the genetic structure of the Egyptian population living in a land bridge between Africa and Asia. Results suggest a genetic discontinuity between the Sinai population and that of the North African part of Egypt. This discontinuity would have been maintained thanks to geo-climatic and social factors.

Background: The genetic differentiation of Bahrain natives is unclear because of the absence of adequate genetic studies., Aim: Eight Alu insertion polymorphisms have been analysed in Bahrainis and southern Iranians to examine the origins of Bahrainis and to determine their genetic position among wider Middle East populations., Subjects and Methods: Two representative samples of 97 Bahrainis and 65 southern Iranians have been determined. Genetic relationships among populations have been estimated by a principal component plot based on the R-matrix software. Mantel tests have been used to check the statistical significance of correlation between genetic and geographic distances., Results: The results show that Bahrainis are in an intermediate genetic position between Emirians and Southern Iranians. Although a general significant correlation between genetic and geographic distances was found between the 16 populations included in the analysis, a lack of this correlation may occur in some particular situations such as the case of populations from southern Iran, United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain, separated by the Persian Gulf., Conclusion: The results support the idea that Bahrainis ancestors were mainly emigrants from Arabia and Iran. In addition the results show that the Iranian component may reach 69.2% of the current genetic pool of Bahrainis.