This NSF Minority Post Doctoral Research Fellowship will support research and training for a minority scholar to work in molecular anthropology, specifically for a Y chromosome-based study on the genetic diversity of Native Peruvian populations. The project will provide the researcher extensive training experience in method and theory of molecular anthropology, and this training will both complement and supplement her previous Ph.D. work at the University of Michigan. This two-year project will be carried out primarily in the laboratory of Dr. Anne C. Stone of the University of New Mexico, supplemented with occasional collaborative training and technical work with Dr.B.Lizarraga, Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, and V.Rubin, Universidad Ricardo Palma, Lima, Peru. The proposed project is in depth study of Native Peruvian Y chromosome genetic diversity. Specifically, the project aims to: (1) characterize Y chromosomal genetic diversity in Native Peruvian groups via intensive population sampling, (2) test for significant correlations between genetic diversity measures, on the one hand, and variables that may have shaped genetic structure of these native populations, including past demographic events, on the other, and (3) conduct these tests on both a regional (Peruvian / Andean) and continental (SouthAmerican) scale. The study focuses on the non-recombining component (NRY) of the chromosome to resolve the population genetic structure of Native Peruvian populations. Population affinity, level of genetic diversity and gene flow will be examined using population genetic analyses. Y chromosomal haplotypes will form the basis of these comparisons, and these will be constructed using combinations of relatively slow mutating Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs) and faster mutating Short Tandem Repeats (STRs). Thus far, Dr. Lizarraga and V. Rubin have sampled over 100 individuals from 6 populations throughout diverse geographic areas and linguistic families for the purposes of this project.
