Analysis of Y chromosome SNPs in Alagoas, Northeastern Brazil

Alagoas State is located in Northeast Brazil. Like many other South American populations, the genetic composition of Alagoas is the result of admixture between Amerindians, Europeans and Africans. In this work, 24 Y chromosome SNPs were analysed (SRY10831, M168, M213, M9, M22, M45, M3, M173, M17, P25, M269, M70, M201, M170, M26, M304, M172, M96, M2, M35, M78, M81, M123 and M34) in a sample of 247 unrelated men belonging to Alagoas population, aiming to determine the different Amerindian, European and African male contributions to the current population. SNP typing was done by a single base extension method, using the SNaPshot minisequencing kit. A total of 16 haplogroups were found in our sample. The main contribution to the present day Y chromosome genepool of Alagoas was found to be European (94.74%), and a much lower percentage of African (4.45%) and Amerindian (0.81%) ancestry lineages have been detected. When our sample was compared with others from Portugal and Rio de Janeiro, no significant genetic differences could be observed.