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. 2021 Aug 20;12(8):1273.
doi: 10.3390/genes12081273.

Uniparental Lineages from the Oldest Indigenous Population of Ecuador: The Tsachilas

Tullia Di Corcia  1 , Giuseppina Scano  1 , Cristina Martínez-Labarga  1 , Stefania Sarno  2 , Sara De Fanti  2   3 , Donata Luiselli  4 , Olga Rickards  1
Affiliations

Uniparental Lineages from the Oldest Indigenous Population of Ecuador: The Tsachilas

Tullia Di Corcia et al. Genes (Basel). .

Abstract

Together with Cayapas, the Tsachilas constitute the oldest population in the country of Ecuador and, according to some historians, they are the last descendants of the ancient Yumbos. Several anthropological issues underlie the interest towards this peculiar population: the uncertainty of their origin, their belonging to the Barbacoan linguistic family, which is still at the center of an intense linguistic debate, and the relations of their Yumbo ancestors with the Inca invaders who occupied their ancient territory. Our contribution to the knowledge of their complex past was the reconstruction of their genetic maternal and paternal inheritance through the sequencing of 70 entire mitochondrial genomes and the characterization of the non-recombinant region of the Y chromosome in 26 males. For both markers, we built comprehensive datasets of various populations from the surrounding geographical area, northwestern South America, NW, with a known linguistic affiliation, and we could then compare our sample against the overall variability to infer relationships with other Barbacoan people and with other NW natives. We found contrasting patterns of genetic diversity for the two markers, but generally, our results indicated a possible common origin between the Tsachilas, the Chachi, and other Ecuadorian and Colombian Barbacoans and are suggestive of an interesting ancient linkage to the Inca invaders in Yumbo country.

Keywords: Barbacoan; Native American; South America; Y chromosome; mtDNA.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Map showing the reference location of samples investigated in the present study. The red dot indicates the city of Santo Domingo de los Tsachilas within the homonym canton.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Median joining network for A2, B2, C1, and D1 haplotypes of mtDNA entire genomes (n = 313) among Peruvian, Bolivian, Colombian, and Ecuadorian populations color-coded by ethnicity/linguistic affiliation. The haplotypes are represented by circles with sizes proportional to the number of individuals and branch lengths proportional to the number of mutational steps. The Quechua populations are divided by country (Peruvian, Bolivian, and Ecuadorian Quechua are indicated by Quechua_P, Quechua_B, and Quechua_E, respectively).
Figure 3
Figure 3
MDS plot based on φst genetic distances (stress value = 0.093) among 15 Ecuadorian, Peruvian, Bolivian, and Colombian populations.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Median joining network for 14 Y-STRs haplotypes (n = 316) among Peruvian, Ecuadorian, and Colombian populations, color-coded by ethnicity/linguistic affiliation. The haplotypes are represented by circles with sizes proportional to the number of individuals and branch lengths proportional to the number of mutational steps. The Quechua populations are divided by country (Peruvian and Ecuadorian Quechua are indicated by Quechua_P and Quechua_E, respectively).
Figure 5
Figure 5
MDS plot based on Fst genetic distances (stress value = 0.079) among 17 Ecuadorian, Peruvian, and Colombian populations.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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