MTDNA ANALYSIS OF THE GALICIAN POPULATION - A GENETIC EDGE OF EUROPEAN VARIATION

Analysis of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) variation has become a useful to ol for human population studies, We analysed the first hypervariable r egion of mitochondrial DNA control region (position 16024-16383) in 92 unrelated individuals from Galicia (Spain), a relatively isolated Eur opean population at the westernmost continental edge. Fifty different sequences defined by 56 variable positions were found, The frequency o f the reference sequence reaches in Galicians its maximum value in Eur ope, Moreover, several genetic indexes confirm the low variability of our sample in comparison to data from 11 European and Middle Eastern p opulations, A parsimony tree of the sequences reveals a high simplicit y of the tree, with few and small well defined clusters. These results place Galicians on the genetic edge of the European variation, bringi ng together all the traits of a cul-de-sac population with a striking similarity to the Basque population. The present results are fully com patible with a population expansion model in Europe during the Upper P aleolithic age. The genetic evidence revealed by the analysis of mtDNA shows the Galician population at the edge of a demographic expansion towards Europe from the Middle East.