Patterns of mitochondrial variation in Melanesia and implications for the settling of the Pacific

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.