Montalva, N;
Adhikari, K;
Liebert, A;
Mendoza-Revilla, J;
Flores, SV;
Mace, R;
Swallow, DM;
(2019)
Adaptation to milking agropastoralism in Chilean goat herders and nutritional benefit of lactase persistence.
Annals of Human Genetics
, 83
(1)
pp. 11-22.
10.1111/ahg.12277.
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Abstract
The genetic trait of lactase persistence (LP) evolved as an adaptation to milking pastoralism in the Old World and is a well-known example of positive natural selection in humans. However, the specific mechanisms conferring this selective advantage are unknown. To understand the relationship between milk drinking, LP, growth, reproduction, and survival, communities of the Coquimbo Region in Chile, with recent adoption of milking agropastoralism, were used as a model population. DNA samples and data on stature, reproduction, and diet were collected from 451 participants. Lactose tolerance tests were done on 41 of them. The European -13,910*T (rs4988235) was the only LP causative variant found, showing strong association (99.6%) with LP phenotype. Models of associations of inferred LP status and milk consumption, with fertility, mortality, height, and weight were adjusted with measures of ancestry and relatedness to control for population structure. Although we found no statistically significant effect of LP on fertility, a significant effect (P = 0.002) was observed of LP on body mass index (BMI) in males and of BMI on fertility (P = 0.003). These results fail to support a causal relationship between LP and fertility yet suggest the idea of a nutritional advantage of LP. Furthermore, the proportion of European ancestry around the genetic region of -13,910*T is significantly higher (P = 0.008) than the proportion of European ancestry genome-wide, providing evidence of recent positive selection since European-Amerindian admixture. This signature was absent in nonpastoralist Latin American populations, supporting the hypothesis of specific adaptation to milking agropastoralism in the Coquimbo communities.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Adaptation to milking agropastoralism in Chilean goat herders and nutritional benefit of lactase persistence |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1111/ahg.12277 |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.1111/ahg.12277 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in the credit line; if the material is not included under the Creative Commons license, users will need to obtain permission from the license holder to reproduce the material. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/ licenses/by/4.0/. |
| Keywords: | Adaptation, Latin America, body mass index, lactase persistence, natural selection, pastoralism |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Life Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Life Sciences > Div of Biosciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Life Sciences > Div of Biosciences > Cell and Developmental Biology UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Life Sciences > Div of Biosciences > Genetics, Evolution and Environment UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH > Faculty of S&HS UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH > Faculty of S&HS > Dept of Anthropology |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10057975 |
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