HLA-DRB1 frequencies of the comorian population and their genetic affinities with sub-saharian African and indian oceanian populations

Morgane Gibert (1) , Mhammed Touinssi (2, 3) , Denis Reviron (2, 3) , Pierre Mercier (2, 3) , Gilles Boëtsch (3) , Jacques Chiaroni (2, 3)

1 LA - Laboratoire d'Anthropobiologie
2 EFS - Alpes-Méditerranée - Etablissement Français du Sang - Alpes-Méditerranée
3 UAABC - Anthropologie Bio-Culturelle

Ethnic-historic sources have considered the Comorian population to be the result of an amalgamation of African, Arabian and Southeast Asian groups. AIM: This study seeks to determine the genetic relationships and contributions from Sub-Saharan Africa and Indian Oceania and to reconstruct past migration events. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: The human leukocyte antigen (HLA) polymorphism of a Comorian population was described and analysed. RESULTS: Genetic distances and multidimensional scaling analyses showed complex patterns of genetic differentiation in the Indian Oceanian area as a result of continuous gene flow occurring within the past approximately 2500 years. Nevertheless, the Comorian genetic pool appears to be a mix of Bantu-speaking and Arab populations as testified to by admixture estimations of almost 50-60% and 27-33%, respectively. CONCLUSION: The Comorian population may represent the eastern limit of the recent and massive eastward Bantu expansion. In contrast to the population from Madagascar (Merina), only a restricted influence of Austronesian populations was found.

Domaines: Anthropologie biologique

Morgane Gibert, Mhammed Touinssi, Denis Reviron, Pierre Mercier, Gilles Boëtsch, et al.. HLA-DRB1 frequencies of the comorian population and their genetic affinities with sub-saharian African and indian oceanian populations. Annals of Human Biology, 2006, 33 (3), pp.265-278. ⟨halshs-03007237⟩