Relationships between genomic ancestry, self-perceived ancestry and identity variables in a sample from Puerto Madryn, Argentina

Abstract

The diversity of origins and identities of the current population of Argentine Patagonia is the result of various migratory and miscegenation processes that occurred from the settlement of the American continent to the present. In this work, we explored how genomic ancestry is related to self-perceived ancestry and other identity variables in a sample from the city of Puerto Madryn, Chubut. In 2018, a sampling was carried out for which volunteers over 18 years of age were summoned. Each participant was sampled with biological material for DNA extraction, and an extensive questionnaire was conducted that included questions about self-perception of their ancestry, as well as the mother tongue and place of origin of their mother, father, grandfathers and grandmothers. Using the ADMIXTURE program, the genomic ancestry of a sample of 96 people was calculated. The most prevalent genomic component (48%) was of European origin, specifically from regions of Spain and Italy, followed by the Native American genomic component (24%). The self-perceived Native American ancestry showed a tendency to exceed the genomic ancestry value of this origin, while when comparing the self-perceived European ancestry with the genomically calculated one, the tendency on the part of the volunteers was to underestimate this origin. Through a Multiple Correspondence Analysis it was possible to verify that the mother tongue and the place of origin of the ancestors are variables closely related to genomic ancestry as well as self-perceived ancestry.