Article

Evolutionary Responses to a Constructed Niche: Ancient Mesoamericans as a Model of Gene-Culture Coevolution

Tábita HünemeierDepartamento de Genética, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, BrazilCarlos Eduardo Guerra AmorimDepartamento de Genética, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, BrazilSoledad de AzevedoCentro Nacional Patagónico, CONICET, U9120ACV, Puerto Madryn, ArgentinaVerônica ContiniDepartamento de Genética, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, BrazilVíctor Acuña-AlonzoMolecular Genetics Laboratory, Escuela Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Mexico City, MexicoFrancisco RothhammerInstituto de Alta Investigación, Universidad de Tarapacá, Arica, ChileJean‐Michel DugoujonLaboratoire d′Anthropologie Moléculaire et d′Imagerie de Synthèse, UMR 5288 CNRS, Université Paul Sabatier (Toulouse3), Toulouse, FranceStéphane MazièresAnthropologie Bio-culturelle, Droit, Ethique et Santé (ADES), UMR 7268, Aix-Marseille-Université/CNRS/EFS, Marseille, FranceRamiro BarrantesEscuela de Biología, Universidad de Costa Rica, San José, Costa RicaTeresa Villarreal‐MolinaLaboratorio de Genómica de Enfermedades Cardiovasculares, Instituto Nacional de Medicina Genómica, Mexico City, MexicoVanessa Rodrigues Paixão‐CôrtesDepartamento de Genética, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, BrazilFrancisco M. SalzanoDepartamento de Genética, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, BrazilSamuel Canizales‐QuinterosDepartamento de Biología, Facultad de Química, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City, MexicoAndrés Ruiz‐LinaresThe Galton Laboratory, Department of Biology, University College London, London, United KingdomMaría Cátira BortoliniDepartamento de Genética, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil

2012en

ABI

Abstract

Culture and genetics rely on two distinct but not isolated transmission systems. Cultural processes may change the human selective environment and thereby affect which individuals survive and reproduce. Here, we evaluated whether the modes of subsistence in Native American populations and the frequencies of the ABCA1*Arg230Cys polymorphism were correlated. Further, we examined whether the evolutionary consequences of the agriculturally constructed niche in Mesoamerica could be considered as a gene-culture coevolution model. For this purpose, we genotyped 229 individuals affiliated with 19 Native American populations and added data for 41 other Native American groups (n = 1905) to the analysis. In combination with the SNP cluster of a neutral region, this dataset was then used to unravel the scenario involved in 230Cys evolutionary history. The estimated age of 230Cys is compatible with its origin occurring in the American continent. The correlation of its frequencies with the archeological data on Zea pollen in Mesoamerica/Central America, the neutral coalescent simulations, and the F(ST)-based natural selection analysis suggest that maize domestication was the driving force in the increase in the frequencies of 230Cys in this region. These results may represent the first example of a gene-culture coevolution involving an autochthonous American allele.

Identifiers

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0038862

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