Evaluation of Variation in Control Region Sequences for Hispanic Individuals in the SWGDAM mtDNA Data Set

The Scientific Working Group on DNA Analysis Methods (SWGDAM) Hispanic data set was analyzed to determine the diversity, phylogeny, and relevant single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) that describe haplogroup patterns for Hispanic Americans (N=686), and to assess the degree of admixture regarding mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA). The largest component of admixture based on mtDNA analysis derives from the four major haplogroups previously observed in Native American ancestry, including A (29.3%), B (15.7%), C (20.6%), and D (4.8%). European (17.8%) and African (11.8%) haplogroups also were observed within this data set. Hispanic SWGDAM samples from the southwest, compared with other SWGDAM Hispanic samples, were observed to have a greater percent of Native American haplogroups present (79.9%), and fewer African American haplogroups (4.5%). A total of 234 SNPs were observed in the data set, including 36 newly reported variable positions. These SWGDAM Hispanic data set SNPs ranged from having 1 to 31 changes (Length=L) on the phylogenetic tree, with site 16519 being the most variable. On average, there were 3.9 character changes for each variable position on the tree. The most variable sites (with 13 or more changes each listed from fastest to slowest) observed were 16519 (L=31), 16189 (L=23), 152 (L=23), 16311 (L=19), 146 (L=17), 195 (L=17), 16093 (L=15), 16362 (L=14), 16129 (L=13), 150 (L=13), and 153 (L=13). These sites are consistent with other reports on highly variable positions. A total of 27 SNPs were chosen to identify all clusters containing 1% (N=7) or more individuals in the SWGDAM Hispanic data set. The descriptive analyses revealed that the SWGDAM Hispanic data set is similar to published Native American and Hispanic data sets.