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. 2017 Aug 9;17(1):185.
doi: 10.1186/s12862-017-1027-7.

mtDNA structure: the women who formed the Brazilian Northeast

Ana Paula Schaan  1 , Lorenna Costa  2 , Diego Santos  2 , Antonio Modesto  1 , Marcos Amador  1 , Camile Lopes  1 , Sílvia Helena Rabenhorst  3 , Raquel Montenegro  4 , Bruno D A Souza  1 , Thayson Lopes  5 , France Keiko Yoshioka  5 , Giovanny Pinto  5 , Vivian Silbiger  2 , Ândrea Ribeiro-Dos-Santos  6   7
Affiliations

mtDNA structure: the women who formed the Brazilian Northeast

Ana Paula Schaan et al. BMC Evol Biol. .

Retraction in

  • Retraction Note: MtDNA structure: the women who formed the Brazilian Northeast.
    Schaan AP, Costa L, Santos D, Modesto A, Amador M, Lopes C, Rabenhorst SH, Montenegro R, Souza BDA, Lopes T, Yoshioka FK, Pinto G, Silbiger V, Ribeiro-Dos-Santos Â. Schaan AP, et al. BMC Ecol Evol. 2025 Jul 28;25(1):73. doi: 10.1186/s12862-025-02427-2. BMC Ecol Evol. 2025. PMID: 40722134 Free PMC article. No abstract available.

Expression of concern in

Abstract

Background: The distribution of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) lineages in Brazil is heterogeneous due to different regional colonization dynamics. Northeastern Brazil, although being an important region in terms of human imigration and ethnic admixture, has little information regarding its population mtDNA composition. Here, we determine which mitochondrial lineages contributed to the formation of the Northeastern Brazilian population. Our sample consisted of 767 individuals distributed as follows i) 550 individuals from eight Northeastern states (Piauí, Ceará, Rio Grande do Norte, Paraíba, Pernambuco, Alagoas, Sergipe, and Bahia) which were sequenced for mtDNA hypervariable segments I, II, and III; ii) 217 individuals from Alagoas and Pernambuco (previously published data). Data analysis was performed through sequence alignment and Haplogrep 2.0 haplogroup assignment tools. Furthermore, maternal ancestry distribution was contextualized and, when possible, related to historical events to better understand the biological interactions and population dynamics that occurred in this region since the beginning of colonization.

Results: Unexpectedly, Amerindian mitochondrial ancestry was the highest in the Northeastern region overall, followed by African, European and non-Amerindian Asian, unlike previous results for this region. Alagoas and Pernambuco states, however, showed a larger African mtDNA frequency. The Northeastern region showed an intraregional heterogeneous distribution regarding ancestral groups, in which states/mesoregions located to the north had a prevalent Amerindian ancestral frequency and those to the south had predominance of African ancestry. Moreover, results showed great diversity of European haplogroups and the presence of non-Amerindian Asian haplogroups.

Conclusions: Our findings are in disagreement with previous investigations that suggest African mitochondrial ancestry is the most prevalent in the Brazilian Northeast. The predominance of Amerindian lineages exemplifies the importance of indigenous women in the formation of the population, despite intense African slave entry and conflicts with European settlers. The variable distribution of ancestral groups observed in the Northeast is in accordance with historical records showing the similarities with colonization dynamics occurred in the Amazon region and the Brazilian Southeast. Moreover, the variety of European haplogroups suggests multiple origins of founding groups, specially those found in Western European populations.

Keywords: Asymmetric colonization; Genetic diversity; Migration pattern; Northeastern Brazil; Population admixture; mtDNA lineages.

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Conflict of interest statement

Ethics approval and consent to participate

Ethical consent was obtained according to the Helsinki Declaration. Ethical approval was obtained from the Research Ethics Committee of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Federal University of Piauí, and Federal University of Ceará, under protocol numbers 27,493,614.0.0000.5293, 0443.0.045.000–11, and 702/04, respectively. Participants signed the Consent Form for participating in the research and analyses were performed preserving subjects anonymously throughout the study.

Consent for publication

Not applicable.

Competing interests

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Map of Northeastern Brazil with investigated areas, made up of eight states, highlighted in gray. (MA – Maranhão, PI – Piauí, CE – Ceará, RN – Rio Grande do Norte, PB – Paraíba, PE – Pernambuco, AL – Alagoas, SE – Sergipe, BA – Bahia)
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Heterogeneous distribution of mitochondrial ancestral groups in Piauí. Amerindian presence is prevalent to the North, while African and Amerindian ancestry are equally represented to the South. The frequency of European descendants is similar in both regions; non-Amerindian Asians are only found to the North
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Distribution of mtDNA haplogroups in Northeastern Brazil. Amerindian haplogroups in shades of green; Non-Amerindian Asian haplogroups in shades of gray; African haplogroups in shades of orange; European haplogroups in shades of blue
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Distribution of mtDNA haplogroups in Northeastern Brazil distributed according to each investigated state. Amerindian haplogroups in shades of green; Non-Amerindian Asian haplogroups in shades of gray; African haplogroups in shades of orange; European haplogroups in shades of blue
Fig. 5
Fig. 5
Northeast Brazil divided into two sets regarding mtDNA ancestry. The variability in mtDNA composition seems to be related to European colonization events. The state of Paraíba, located in between both groups, showed equal frequencies for Amerindians and Africans and is, therefore, a transition between both sets
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