Structure génétique et histoire biologique de trois populations amérindiennes de Guyane française

DNA from three Amerindian groups living in French Guiana (Palikur Emerillon and Kalina) has been extracted from sera and a total of 102 individuals selectionned from the genealogical data were examined both by RFLP analysis and by D-Loop sequencing for the mitochondrial Amerindian polymorphisms. The four major founding mtDNA lineages were observed in the Kalina only. The Palikur lack the A and C natives haplogroups and the C and D lineages were not observed in the Emerillon population. The absence of these lineages is to be noticed. In the Palikur, it could be correlated to their genetic isolation due to their endogam social structure, while in the Emerillon, C and D could have been lost after the drastic bottleneck event they underwent. Those preliminary results suggest that in front of the Amazon bassin, the peopling of the Guianas present pecularities relative to its geographical location as well as some particular social structures.