Browsing by Author "D'Amato, Maria Eugenia"

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    Genetic heritage of the Baphuthi highlights an over-ethnicized notion of “Bushman” in the Maloti-Drakensberg, southern Africa
    (Cell Press, 2023) Daniels, Ryan Joseph; D'Amato, Maria Eugenia; Lesaoana, Mpasi
    Using contemporary people as proxies for ancient communities is a contentious but necessary practice in anthropology. In southern Africa, the distinction between the Cape KhoeSan and eastern KhoeSan remains unclear, as ethnicity labels have been changed through time and most communities were decimated if not extirpated. The eastern KhoeSan may have had genetic distinctions from neighboring communities who speak Bantu languages and KhoeSan further away; alternatively, the identity may not have been tied to any notion of biology, instead denoting communities with a nomadic “lifeway” distinct from African agro-pastoralism. The Baphuthi of the 1800s in the Maloti-Drakensberg, southern Africa had a substantial KhoeSan constituency and a lifeway of nomadism, cattle raiding, and horticulture.
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    The geographical analysis of the mitochondrial DNA control region found in southern African population's by using a bioinformatics approach
    (University of the Western Cape, 2020) Livesey, Michelle Chantel; D'Amato, Maria Eugenia
    South Africa’s demographic complexity has been historically shaped by interethnic admixture between the native KhoiSan inhabitants and the Bantu expansion that started 3000 - 5000 YBP and reached South Africa about 1000 years ago. This, followed by the arrival of the European settlers in the 16th century who brought in slaves from their Asian colonies, mainly from Malaysia and the east- and western Africa. By the late 19th- and early 20th century colonial India (South Asia) also migrated to South Africa. It has been hypothesized that the history of South African has influence ethnic group distribution in South African, to the degree that it is not homogeneous. This study further theorized that the history contributed to the gene flow at a regional level and not restricted to the ethnic distribution of genetic variation. Therefore, this study focuses on the geographical and ethnic dispersal of maternal lineages by investigating the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA). It is predicted that the maternal lineages could be limited or appear in high frequencies in specific ethnic and/or geographical region in South Africa. This, in turn, can aid mitochondrial DNA forensic human identification applications when a specific haplotype is questioned. This study produced a complete mitochondrial DNA control region (nucleotide position 16 024-576) sequences generated with Sanger and next-generation sequencing for 246 individuals residing in the Western Cape, Northern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal provinces of South Africa. The control region is of particular interest due to the vast majority of rapidly evolving sites that are of relevance in both forensic genetics and population studies. The haplotypes were inferred against the revised Cambridge Reference Sequences and haplogroups were determined by online tool HaploGrep 2.
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    Molecular genetic identification of skeletal remains of apartheid activists in South Africa
    (Academic Journals, 2008) Davison, Sean; Benjeddou, Mongi; D'Amato, Maria Eugenia
    The Truth and Reconciliation Commission made significant progress in examining abuses committed during the apartheid era in South Africa. Despite information revealed by the commission, a large number of individuals remained missing when the commission closed its proceedings. This provided the impetus for the establishment of a Missing Persons Task Team within the South African National Prosecuting Authority. The team has used evidence generated by The Truth and Reconciliation Commission as well as their own investigations to identify likely burial sites for activists and has conducted exhumations. The University of the Western Cape (UWC) was privileged to have been able to assist by initiating a DNA testing program to augment the non-DNA evidence gathered by the Missing Person's Task Team. In this review we consider some of the technological developments associated with the testing of skeletal remains and provide an overview of some of the cases analyzed to date.
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    Self-maintaining or continuously refreshed? The genetic structure of Euphausia lucens populations in the Benguela upwelling ecosystem
    (Oxford University Press, 2013) Harkins, Gordon William; D'Amato, Maria Eugenia; Gibbons, Mark J.
    Populations of Euphausia lucens over the shelf of the southern Benguela upwelling region could be self-maintaining. Alternatively, they could be continually refreshed by expatriates from the SW Atlantic that enter the system via South Atlantic Central Water in the south, before developing and then being lost through advection off Namibia. These two hypotheses are investigated here by examining geographic heterogeneity and molecular variation (cox1 and ND1) of the species across its distributional range in the Southern Hemisphere. Comparisons are made with E. vallentini, which is assumed to show panmixia associated with its circumglobal distribution between 50 and 60°S. Phylogenetic analysis with mitochondrial 16S ribosomal RNA and cytochrome oxidase 1 (cox1) confirmed that E. lucens and E. vallentinirepresent sister taxa. Strong geographic structuring of cox1 and ND1 mtDNA genetic variation by ocean basin was recorded in E. lucens, indicating that neritic populations off South Africa are likely self-maintaining. This contrasts with the results for E. vallentini, which appears to occur as a single panmictic population across its distributional range. These differences are likely related to the habitats (neritic, E. lucens; oceanic, E. vallentini) occupied by each species. The results of the neutrality tests are consistent with demographic processes and suggest growth in E. lucens and equilibrium or shrinkage in E. vallentini. Although purifying selection cannot be ruled out in the former, the very few haplotypes recovered from E. vallentini could indicate that any population expansion following a crash is not yet reflected in the relatively slowly evolving mtDNA markers used here. Further work using other methods is recommended.