RT Journal Article
T1 Genomic insights on the ethno-history of the Maya and the ‘Ladinos’ from Guatemala
A1 Söchtig, Jens
A1 Álvarez Iglesias, Vanesa
A1 Mosquera Miguel, Ana
A1 Gelabert Besada, Miguel
A1 Gómez Carballa, Alberto
A1 Salas Ellacuriaga, Antonio
K1 Mesoamerica
K1 Guatemala
K1 Maya
K1 Ladino
K1 mtDNA
K1 Y-chromosome
K1 AIMs
K1 Autosomal SNPs
K1 Phylogeography
AB BackgroundGuatemala is a multiethnic and multilingual country located in Central America. The main population groups separate ‘Ladinos’ (mixed Native American-African-Spanish), and Native indigenous people of Maya descent. Among the present-day Guatemalan Maya, there are more than 20 different ethnic groups separated by different languages and cultures. Genetic variation of these communities still remains largely unexplored. The principal aim of this study is to explore the genetic variability of the Maya and ‘Ladinos’ from Guatemala by means of uniparental and ancestry informative markers (AIMs).ResultsAnalyses of uniparental genetic markers indicate that Maya have a dominant Native American ancestry (mitochondrial DNA [mtDNA]: 100%; Y-chromosome: 94%). ‘Ladino’, however, show a clear gender-bias as indicated by the large European ancestry observed in the Y-chromosome (75%) compared to the mtDNA (0%). Autosomal polymorphisms (AIMs) also mirror this marked gender-bias: (i) Native American ancestry: 92% for the Maya vs. 55% for the ‘Ladino’, and (ii) European ancestry: 8% for the Maya vs. 41% for the ‘Ladino’. In addition, the impact of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade on the present-day Guatemalan population is very low (and only occurs in the ‘Ladino’; mtDNA: 9%; AIMs: 4%), in part mirroring the fact that Guatemala has a predominant orientation to the Pacific Ocean instead of a Caribbean one. Sequencing of entire Guatemalan mitogenomes has led to improved Native American phylogeny via the addition of new haplogroups that are mainly observed in Mesoamerica and/or the North of South America.ConclusionsThe data reveal the existence of a fluid gene flow in the Mesoamerican area and a predominant unidirectional flow towards South America, most likely occurring during the Pre-Classic (1800 BC-200 AD) and the Classic (200–1000 AD) Eras of the Mesoamerican chronology, coinciding with development of the most distinctive and advanced Mesoamerican civilization, the Maya. Phylogenetic features of mtDNA data also suggest a demographic scenario that is compatible with moderate local endogamy and isolation in the Maya combined with episodes of gene exchange between ethnic groups, suggesting an ethno-genesis in the Guatemalan Maya that is recent and supported on a cultural rather than a biological basis.
PB BMC
SN 1471-2164
YR 2015
FD 2015
LK http://hdl.handle.net/10347/23015
UL http://hdl.handle.net/10347/23015
LA eng
NO Söchtig, J., Álvarez-Iglesias, V., Mosquera-Miguel, A. et al. Genomic insights on the ethno-history of the Maya and the ‘Ladinos’ from Guatemala. BMC Genomics 16, 131 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12864-015-1339-1
NO We greatly thank all the sample contributors in Guatemala. JS was supportedby research grants from the German FAZIT-STIFTUNG and the GermanAcademic Exchange Service (DAAD). VAI was supported by funding from theEUROFORGEN project and the Xunta de Galicia (EM 2012/045). The researchleading to these results has received funding from the People Program(Marie Curie Actions) of the European Union’s Seventh Framework ProgramFP7/2007-2013/ under REA grant agreement n° 290344, and the grants fromthe “Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación” (SAF2008-02971) from the PlanGalego IDT, Xunta de Galicia (EM 2012/045) given to AS
DS Minerva
RD 28 abr 2026