Nuclear DNA polymorphism in a Mandenka population from Senegal: Comparison with eight other human populations

摘要

SummaryA large and ethnically well defined Mandenka sample from Senegal is analysed for 80 nuclear DNA RFLPs, and compared with eight previously studied human populations. A high level of genetic diversity is found in this sample, comparable to that observed in two African Pygmy samples, but lower than that of a European sample. High population variation is observed for most markers. A neutrality test reveals that the markers used in this study can be considered as neutral. A high correlation is found between genetic and geographic distances (r= 0·62), suggesting that geography does also affect long range population genetic relationships and is an important factor behind differentiation among human populations