Human settlement history between Sunda and Sahul: a focus on East Timor (Timor-Leste) and the Pleistocenic mtDNA diversity
- PMID:25757516
- PMCID: PMC4342813
- DOI: 10.1186/s12864-014-1201-x
Human settlement history between Sunda and Sahul: a focus on East Timor (Timor-Leste) and the Pleistocenic mtDNA diversity
Abstract
Background: Distinct, partly competing, "waves" have been proposed to explain human migration in(to) today's Island Southeast Asia and Australia based on genetic (and other) evidence. The paucity of high quality and high resolution data has impeded insights so far. In this study, one of the first in a forensic environment, we used the Ion Torrent Personal Genome Machine (PGM) for generating complete mitogenome sequences via stand-alone massively parallel sequencing and describe a standard data validation practice.
Results: In this first representative investigation on the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) variation of East Timor (Timor-Leste) population including >300 individuals, we put special emphasis on the reconstruction of the initial settlement, in particular on the previously poorly resolved haplogroup P1, an indigenous lineage of the Southwest Pacific region. Our results suggest a colonization of southern Sahul (Australia) >37 kya, limited subsequent exchange, and a parallel incubation of initial settlers in northern Sahul (New Guinea) followed by westward migrations <28 kya.
Conclusions: The temporal proximity and possible coincidence of these latter dispersals, which encompassed autochthonous haplogroups, with the postulated "later" events of (South) East Asian origin pinpoints a highly dynamic migratory phase.
Figures








References
- National Statistics Directorate (NSD) [Timor-Leste], Ministry of Finance [Timor-Leste], and ICF Macro . Timor-Leste Demographic and Health Survey 2009–10. Díli: NSD and ICF Macro; 2010.
- National Statistics Directorate (NSD) [Timor-Leste] and United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). Population and Housing Census of Timor-Leste, 2010, Volume 3: Social and Economic Characteristics. NSD and UNFPA. 2011.https://www.mof.gov.tl/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Publication-3-English-.... Accessed 4 Feb 2015.
- Mona S, Grunz KE, Brauer S, Pakendorf B, Castrì L, Sudoyo H, et al. Genetic admixture history of Eastern Indonesia as revealed by Y-Chromosome and mitochondrial DNA analysis. Mol Biol Evol. 2009;26:1865–77. - PubMed
- Tumonggor MK, Karafet TM, Hallmark B, Lansing JS, Sudoyo H, Hammer MF, et al. The Indonesian archipelago: an ancient genetic highway linking Asia and the Pacific. J Hum Genet. 2013;58:165–73. - PubMed
Publication types
MeSH terms
Substances
Associated data
- Actions
- Actions
- Actions
- Actions
- Actions
- Actions
- Actions
- Actions
- Actions
- Actions
- Actions
- Actions
- Actions
- Actions
- Actions
- Actions
- Actions
- Actions
- Actions
- Actions
- Actions
- Actions
- Actions
- Actions
Grants and funding
LinkOut - more resources
Full Text Sources
Other Literature Sources
