Original Paper

Campora: A Young Genetic Isolate in South Italy
Vincenza Colonna^a, Teresa Nutile^a, Maria Astore^a, Ombretta Guardiola^a, Giuliano Antoniol^{b, c}, Marina Ciullo^a, M.Graziella Persico<sup>a

a</sup>Institute of Genetics and Biophysics 'A. Buzzati-Traverso', CNR Naples, Naples, and
^bUniversità degli Studi del Sannio, Benevento, Italy;
^cDépartement de Génie Informatique École Polytechnique de Montréal, Montréal, Qué, Canada

Address of Corresponding Author

Hum Hered 2007;64:123-135 (DOI: 10.1159/000101964)

  Key Words

• Genetic isolates
• Genealogy
• Haplotype analysis
• Bottleneck

  Abstract

Genetic isolates have been successfully used in the study of complex traits, mainly because due to their features, they allow a reduction in the complexity of the genetic models underlying the trait. The aim of the present study is to describe the population of Campora, a village in the South of Italy, highlighting its properties of a genetic isolate. Both historical evidence and multi-locus genetic data (genomic and mitochondrial DNA polymorphisms) have been taken into account in the analyses. The extension of linkage disequilibrium (LD) regions has been evaluated on autosomes and on a region of the X chromosome. We defined a study sample population on the basis of the genealogy and exogamy data. We found in this population a few different mitochondrial and Y chromosome haplotypes and we ascertained that, similarly to other isolated populations, in Campora LD extends over wider region compared to large and genetically heterogeneous populations. These findings indicate a conspicuous genetic homogeneity in the genome. Finally, we found evidence for a recent population bottleneck that we propose to interpret as a demographic crisis determined by the plague of the 17th century. Overall our findings demonstrate that Campora displays the genetic characteristics of a young isolate.

Copyright © 2007 S. Karger AG, Basel

  Author Contacts

Vincenza Colonna
Institute of Genetics and Biophysics 'A. Buzzati-Traverso', CNR
Via Pietro Castellino, 111
IT-80131 Naples (Italy)
Tel. +39 081 613 2294, Fax +39 081 613 2595, E-Mail colonna@igb.cnr.it

  Article Information

M. Ciullo and M.G. Persico contributed equally to this work.

Received: September 18, 2006
Accepted: February 14, 2007
Published online: May 2, 2007
Number of Print Pages : 13
Number of Figures : 4, Number of Tables : 7, Number of References : 51