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The West Indies represent an amalgamation of African, European and in some cases, East Asian sources, but the contributions from each ethnic group remain relatively unexplored from a genetic perspective. In the present study, we report, for the first time, allelic frequency data across the complete set of 15 autosomal STR loci for general collections from Haiti and Jamaica, which were subsequently used to examine the genetic diversity present in each island population. Our results indicate that although both Haiti and Jamaica display genetic affinities with the continental African collections, a stronger African signal is detected in Haiti than in Jamaica. Although only minimal contributions from non-African sources were observed in Haiti, Jamaica displays genetic input from both European and East Asian sources, an admixture profile similar to other New World collections of African descent analyzed in this report. The divergent genetic signatures present in these populations allude to the different migratory events of Africans, Europeans, and East Asians into the New World. DOI 10.1002/ajpa.21194 KEY WORDS Greater Antilles; Afro-Caribbean; New World African; STRs; phylogenetic analyses

In spite of long-held beliefs that traits related to reproductive success tend to become fixed by evolution with little or no genetic variation, there is now considerable evidence that the natural variation o f fertility within populations is genetically influenced and that a portion of that influence is related to the motivational precursors to fertility. We conduct a two-stage analysis to examine these inferences in a time-ordered multivariate context. First, using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, 1979, and LISREL analysis, we develop a structural equation model in which five hypothesized motivational precursors to fertility, measured in 1979-1982, predict both a child-timing and a child-number outcome, measured in 2002. Second, having chosen two time-ordered sequences of six variables from the SEM to represent our phenotypic models, we use Mx to conduct both univariate and multivariate behavioral genetic analyses with the selected variables. Our results indicate that one or more genes acting within a gene network have additive effects that operate through child-number desires to affect both the timing of the next child born and the final number of children born, that one or more genes acting through a separate network may have additive effects operating through gender role attitudes to produce downstream effects on the two fertility outcomes, and that no genetic variance is associated with either child-timing intentions or educational intentions.

In a previous study, Kaestle and Smith [Am J Phys Anthropol 115 (2001) 1-12] supported a recent (A.D. 1000) Numic expansion into the Great Basin region based on a molecular and statistical analysis of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) of ancient and modern native inhabitants of the region. Their statistical methodology could not rule out the possibility that observed differences in haplogroup frequencies are instead the result of long-term microevolutionary change within a single population. To distinguish more effectively between a Numic expansion versus population continuity, we employed a novel computer simulation approach that incorporates microevolutionary factors likely to affect human population genetic variation. We test whether the observed differences in haplogroup frequencies between ancient and modern Great Basin groups could have been produced solely via in situ microevolu tionary change. Our results indicate that for reasonable demographic conditions, the observed genetic differences between the observed samples are consistent with population continuity if gene flow among prehistoric Great Basin local groups was less than 1% of local group size per generation. Our analysis also supports a recent population expansion if gene flow between neighboring groups exceeded 8% of local group size per generation. The simulations demonstrate that relatively low gene flow levels and random genetic drift can produce the observed degree of genetic differences between population samples. Although this study focuses on the Numic expansion, this simulation approach can be applied to any geographic region for which genetic data have been collected to address similar questions of population relationships over time. KEY WORDS ancient DNA; mtDNA; Stillwater Marsh; Northern Paiute

The article discusses the issue of admixture between anatomically modern and archaic human populations. It focuses on the hypothesis that the growing anatomically modern population acquired locally adapted genetic variants from archaic forms of the genus 'Homo'.

Variation in DNA sequences specific to the nonrecombinant part of the human Y chromosome is particularly interesting from an anthropological point of view, because the variation relates to remote paternal […]

We analyzed Y-chromosome haplotypes in the Nile River Valley in Egypt in 274 unrelated males, using the p49a,f TaqI polymorphism. These individuals were born in three regions along the river: in Alexandria (the Delta and Lower Egypt), in Upper Egypt, and in Lower Nubia. Fifteen different p49a,f TaqI haplotypes are present in Egypt, the three most common being haplotype V (39.4%), haplotype XI (18.9%), and haplotype IV (13.9%). Haplotype V is a characteristic Arab haplotype, with a northern geographic distribution in Egypt in the Nile River Valley. Haplotype IV, characteristic of sub-Saharan populations, shows a southern geographic distribution in Egypt. Am J Phys Anthropol 121:63-66, 2003. KEY WORDS Egypt; Y-chromosome haplotypes; Nile River Valley

This article provides research on the consequences of past social policies on the formation of Afro-Brazilian societies, based on the estimation of the contribution of genes from Africans and ethnic groups in these communities. The authors analyze maternal uniparental systems (mtDNA) and paternal inheritance (Y-DNA) in the Curiau community, finding a differential contribution of paternal and maternal genetic systems.

This article examines the use of tetrameric short tandem repeat polymorphisms (STR) in population genetics, gene mapping, linkage analysis, molecular evolution, paternity tests, medical applications and forensic analysis. The authors provide allelic distributions of specific STR loci taken from 143 Mestizos in northwestern Mexico, and analyze this genetically admixed population.

This article discusses a new method for measuring minisatellite variant repeat (MVR) variations and calculating genetic distances using MVR codes. The authors base their method on the statistical similarity of MVR patterns and allow meaningful comparisons with related populations by considering the complete variability of the minisatellites.

This article provides research on 13 genetic markers from a sample of the Alia population of Sicily, Italy and compared to other Italian populations. The authors detected 34 alleles, and found that the Alia, in terms of alleles and genetic variability, were always distinctive from other Italians; Italy can therefore be divided into three distinct areas based on genetic divergence of eastern and western Italy and Sicily.

I propose a new estimator for jointly estimating two-gene and four-gene coefficients of relatedness between individuals from an outbreeding population with data on codominant genetic markers and compare it, by Monte Carlo simulations, to previous ones in precision and accuracy for different distributions of population allele frequencies, numbers of alleles per locus, actual relationships, sample sizes, and proportions of relatives included in samples. In contrast to several previous estimators, the new estimator is well behaved and applies to any number of alleles per locus and any allele frequency distribution. The estimates for two- and four-gene coefficients of relatedness from the new estimator are unbiased irrespective of the sample size and have sampling variances decreasing consistently with an increasing number of alleles per locus to the minimum asymptotic values determined by the variation in identity-by-descent among loci per se, regardless of the actual relationship. The new estimator is also robust for small sample sizes and for unknown relatives being included in samples for estimating allele frequencies. Compared to previous estimators, the new one is generally advantageous, especially for highly polymorphic loci and/ or small sample sizes.

The subdivision of a species into local populations causes its response to selection to change, even if selection is uniform across space. Population structure increases the frequency of homozygotes and therefore makes selection on homozygous effects more effective. However, population subdivision can increase the probability of competition among relatives, which may reduce the efficacy of selection. As a result, the response to selection can be either increased or decreased in a subdivided population relative to an undivided one, depending on the dominance coefficient [F.sub.ST] and whether selection is hard or soft. Realistic levels of population structure tend to reduce the mean frequency of deleterious alleles. The mutation load tends to be decreased in a subdivided population for recessive alleles, as does the expected inbreeding depression. The magnitude of the effects of population subdivision tends to be greatest in species with hard selection rather than soft selection. Population structure can play an important role in determining the mean fitness of populations at equilibrium between mutation and selection.

In Drosophila and humans, there are accumulating examples of loci with a significant excess of high-frequency-derived alleles or high levels of linkage disequilibrium, relative to a neutral model of a random-mating population of constant size. These are features expected after a recent selective sweep. Their prevalence suggests that positive directional selection may be widespread in both species. However, as I show here, these features do not persist long after the sweep ends: The high-frequency alleles drift to fixation and no longer contribute to polymorphism, while linkage disequilibrium is broken down by recombination. As a result, loci chosen without independent evidence of recent selection are not expected to exhibit either of these features, even if they have been affected by numerous sweeps in their genealogical history. How then can we explain the patterns ill the data? One possibility is population structure, with unequal sampling from different subpopulations. Alternatively, positive selection may not operate as is commonly modeled. In particular, the rate of fixation of advantageous mutations may have increased in the recent past.

This article presents genetic research of four communities from Guahibo of Venezuela for genetic variations of electrocyte enzymes and serum proteins. Results show a higher affinity of Guahibo with other Venezuelans within an irregualr pattern of genetic distances, genetic diversity reveal a moderate amount of genetic structure between the four communities and could account for low population size and relative isolation of the communities.

KEY WORDS mtDNA; HVS 1; 9-bp deletion; New Guinea; Irian Jaya; haplogroups This paper reports human mitochondrial DNA variability in West New Guinea (the least known, western side of the island of New Guinea), not yet described from a molecular perspective. The study was carried out on 202 subjects from 12 ethnic groups, belonging to six different Papuan language families, representative of both mountain and coastal plain areas. Mitochondrial DNA hypervariable region 1 (HVS 1) and the presence of the 9-bp deletion (intergenic region COII-tRN[A.sup.Lys]) were investigated. HVS 1 sequencing identified 73 polymorphic sites defining 89 haplotypes; the 9-bp deletion, which is considered a marker of Austronesian migration in the Pacific, was found to be absent in the whole West New Guinea study sample. Statistical analysis applied to the resulting haplotypes reveal high heterogeneity and an intersecting distribution of genetic variability in these populations, despite their cultural and geographic diversity. The results of subsequent phylogenetic approaches subdivide mtDNA diversity in West New Guinea into three main clusters (groups I-III), defined by sets of polymorphisms which are also shared by some individuals from Papua New Guinea. Comparisons with worldwide HVS 1 sequences stored in the MitBASE database show the absence of these patterns outside Oceania and a few Indonesian subjects, who also lack the 9-bp deletion. This finding, which is consistent with the effects of genetic drift and prolonged isolation of West New Guinea populations, lead us to regard these patterns as New Guinea population markers, which may harbor the genetic memory of the earliest human migrations to the island.

This article compares the genetic relationship between populations from Bogota, Colombia to European, American and Asian populations. Results show genetic links with Europeans with several contributions from Amerindians more than from Africans and Asians in the D1S80 and TH01 markers, but more contributions from African populations were noted when using the VWA markers.

The infinitesimal model which hypothesizes that an infinite quantity of unconnected loci without epistasis influences the quantitative characteristic formed the basis of an analysis of the alterations evident for the genetic variance of a quantitative characteristic in a self-fertilizing population under repeated cycles of truncation selection. Application of the model provides recurrence relations of genetic variance for the succeeding generations with respect to purely additive gene action, pure dominance without additive influence and the instance of additive influence and dominance.

The natural Wright-Fisher model, without recombination and population subdivision and with effective population size, Ne and mutation rate per locus per generation, mu, provides a new estimator of the essential parameter theta having the value 4Ne-mu from DNA polymorphism data. The minimum variance of all possible unbiased estimators of the parameter is only marginally smaller than the new estimator. The variance of any currently used estimator is much bigger than the new estimator's variance.

Byline: Michael Affenzeller, Stefan Wagner, Stephan M. Winkler The basic selection ideas of the different representatives of evolutionary algorithms are sometimes quite diverse. The selection concept of Genetic Algorithms (GAs) and Genetic Programming (GP) is basically realised by the selection of above-average parents for reproduction, whereas Evolution Strategies (ES) use the fitness of newly evolved offspring as the basis for selection (survival of the fittest due to birth surplus). This contribution considers aspects of population genetics and ES in order to propose an enhanced and generic selection model for GAs which is able to preserve the alleles which are part of a high quality solution. Some selected aspects of these enhanced techniques are discussed exemplarily on the basis of the Travelling Salesman Benchmark (TSP) problem instances.

Luca Cavalli-Sforza, a pioneer of genetic archaeology, gives details of geographical distribution of fifty two populations in the human genome. The genetic aspects of these populations passed on from years, are also examined.

For decades, researchers have analyzed biological data to try and understand the genetic relationships between Asian and Native American populations, in particular, to model the initial peopling of the New World. These studies have suggested that between one to several migrations from Asia are responsible for the biological, cultural and linguistic diversity observed in past and present Native American populations, depending on the data set employed in the study. They have also revealed a general division between northern and southern Asian populations that suggests that Asia and Siberia were colonized through multiple population expansions. The abundance of new mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) data from both Asian and Native American populations allowed us to reexamine questions about their origins and affinities through the statistical and phylogenetic analyses of these mtDNA data. Our results suggest certain regions of northern Asia as being more probably source areas for ancestral Native Americans, show regional patterns of genetic diversity in Siberia, and generally imply that both Asia and the Americas have undergone a complex settlement process.

Evolutionary developmental biology has focused largely on (macroevolution and the) analyses of the phylogenetic patterns of developmental events. Studies in this field have been concerned with the identification of primitive (conserved) and derived genetic mechanisms, and with the analysis of patterns of divergence of gene expression, genetic regulation, and morphogenesis (in different taxa). In order to understand the evolution of development it is also necessary to understand (it at the microevolutionary level. This can be done by examining) how the fundamental mechanisms of evolutionary change: mutation, selection, and drift, affect the genetic mechanisms of development. Such an understanding depends, in part, on developing methods for studying the association between natural genetic variation and variation in developmental processes. We have begun to develop theoretical methods for studying the population genetics of developmental mechanisms, and have been using these methods to study how developmental systems respond to selection. Our results show that selection on the phenotype can result in non-intuitive changes at the level of the genotype. Our results help to explain the variable and inconsistent correlation between specific genes and the heritable properties of complex traits, and suggest methods by which such correlations can be predicted.

The finger ridge counts of three Slovakian Roma populations have been compared with 12 world populations in order to explore relationships amongst the populations. Numerous studies have utilized genetic, linguistic, and historic evidence to trace the origin and migration of Roma populations; however, finger ridge count data have not been used. Unlike previous studies which have documented a relationship between Roma and North Indian populations; this study finds evidence of a link between the linguistically distinct Roma populations, part of the Indo-European language family, and the Urali, a South Indian population that is part of the Dravidian language family. The comparative samples ate taken from three Indian populations, as well as Middle Eastern and European populations, totaling more than 3000 individuals. The Slovakian Roma samples are from three distinct sub-ethnic groups defined by different Romany dialects and differing degrees of acculturation. Analysis is based on phenotypic and genetic distances. The data from all ten digits are analyzed in RMET in order to produce phenotypic distances. Genetic distances ate estimated from the additive genetic covariance matrix obtained from a large German family sample. Eigenvectors from the genetic covariance matrix are used to get principal component scores, which are then used to calculate genetic distances from RMET. From a graph of the principal coordinates it is possible to define three groupings. European and Middle Eastern populations form one group, the North Indian samples a second group, and the Slovakian Roma and the Urali a third group.

The Bismarck Archipelago has been identified by archaeologists as the homeland of the Lapita people, the first settlers of remote Oceania, yet little genetic research has been undertaken in these islands to test hypotheses of migration to Polynesia. We have analyzed a total of 152 samples from Austronesian and non-Austronesian speaking populations of New Britain sequenced for over 1000 base pairs of HVS 1 and 2, and we are currently sequencing additional samples from New Ireland, as well as from Papua New Guinea, Ontong Java, and Bougainville. Of the 15 haplogroups found in Melanesia by the Merriwether lab and from the literature, 11 have been recognized in the Bismarcks. Preliminary results indicate potential gene flow between Austronesian and non-Austronesian speakers in New Britain, but this finding is not yet quantified. However, a transition at position 16468 of the Anderson, et al. sequence was identified which is common in New Britain populations and observed in remote Oceania but is absent from all but one New Guinea sample and not found in any sequences from Southeast Asia. This could provide a novel way to assess how much indigenous Melanesians in the Bismarcks of elsewhere contributed to the Lapita gene pool.

Human apolipoprotein E (apo E) is a plasma glycoprotein that plays a major role in lipoprotein metabolism. Three common variants (*E2, *E3, & *E4) of APOE show interesting population genetic variation. Epidemiological studies have found that the *E4 allele is associated with longevity, increased plasma cholesterol levels and increased prevalence for cardiovascular and Alzheimer diseases. In this study (n=2100), we have analysed the distribution of apolipoprotein E (apo E) polymorphism among 15 endogamous groups of India and 5 regionally divided populations of the UK. Also, we examine the level and extent of genetic variation at this locus in world populations and its utility us a population genetic marker using Principal Component Analyses and spatial autocorrelation analysis. There are marked differences in phenotype and allele frequency between the populations of England and India. Indian populations showed extensive genetic diversity at caste, non-tribal and tribal levels. The interesting feature of this analysis is low incidence or absence of *E4 allele in many caste and tribal populations, even though cardiovascular diseases are relatively common. The UK populations showed higher allele frequency of *E4 allele that is compatible with observed North-South cline. Overall, the observed variation at this locus in Indian and UK populations is comparable to many Caucasian populations. A comprehensive statistical analysis of world populations showed that APOE is a useful genetic marker for population and unthropological studies. The data presented also suggests that authochthon groups (like tribes) in India may throw better insight on the role of apolipoproteins in disease.

We examined mtDNA D-loop sequence variation in 131unrelated Pashtoon speaking residents of Gawargin village in the Helmand Valley of Southern Afghanistan. The samples were collected in 1971 before the Soviet invasion and occupation, the Taliban period of rule, and the US invasion of Afghanistan. These villagers migrated from Laghman Province East Afghanistan in the 1950s. This sample represents a unique snapshot in the genetic history of the Afghan people. We sequenced spanning nts 16000-00430 encompassing HVS1 and HVS2 of the human mtDNA genome. We observed 59 haplotypes among the 131 sequences. We compared the sequences to various worldwide populations of mtDNA sequences, and found many exact matches with Europe and India, and only a few with Asia. We present a Bandelt Median Joining Network to show the relationships and distributions of these mitochondrial lineages and to estimate the ages of the haplogroups in this population.

We have analyzed five Y-specific microsatellite loci (DYS388, DYS390, DYS391, DYS394, DYS395) in 17 Asian and Pacific populations representing a broad geographical area and different linguistic families, with an emphasis on populations from mainland and insular Southeast Asia. Analysis of gene diversity indicates that several of the studied populations have experienced substantial genetic isolation, and a reduction in male effective sizes (viz. the Northeast Indian populations Nishi, Adi and the Taiwanese aboriginals). The average values of the [F.sub.ST] and (ST statistics indicate a high degree of genetic differentiation among these populations at the five Y-specific markers ([F.sub.ST] = 0.21 and (ST = 0.33, based on individual loci; [F.sub.ST] = 0.09 and (ST = 0.36, based on haplotypes), which conform to the expectation of a fourfold smaller effective size of the Y-linked loci compared with the autosomal loci. Dendrogram and principal coordinates analysis, with few exceptions, show a major separation between mainland and insular populations. Among the mainland populations, the Tibeto-Burman speakers from Northeast India cluster in a well-defined group, supported by high bootstrap values. The Southern Chinese, Northern Thai, So, and Cambodian also are integral to this cluster. The other major cluster is rather heterogeneous and includes, among others, the Austronesian-speaking populations. The Samoans of the Pacific, with a distinctive pattern of allelic distributions, stand as an outlier in the tree and PC representations. Although trends of genetic affinities among ethnically and geographically related populations are evident from the Y-specific microsatellite data, microsatellites are not optimal for deciphering complex migratory patterns of human populations, which could possibly be clarified by using additional and more stable genetic markers. KEY WORDS Y-specific microsatellites; genetic polymorphism; Asian and Pacific populations