SUPR
Demographic inference in admixed populations from a genomic perspective
Dnr:

NAISS 2024/22-701

Type:

NAISS Small Compute

Principal Investigator:

Cesar Fortes-Lima

Affiliation:

Uppsala universitet

Start Date:

2024-05-16

End Date:

2025-01-01

Primary Classification:

10615: Evolutionary Biology

Webpage:

Allocation

Abstract

Admixture and selection are fundamental evolutionary processes that have influenced the genomic patterns in numerous species, including our own, and a long-standing focus in population genetics is to infer the population dynamics that gave rise to admixed populations. In this project, I will study complex admixture patterns and selection using novel demographic inference tools for genomic data of admixed human populations from the Americas. This project will enable us to unravel the “who, how, when and where” of the admixture events that shaped the genomic diversity of American populations that had experienced forced mass migrations. The three main aims of this research project are as follows: First, I will combine novel theoretical models, simulations, machine learning and Bayesian algorithms that will allow us to predict and reconstruct the timing and intensities of complex admixture events. Second, I will use genomic data to unravel genomic diversity and putative ancestral sources in populations from key American regions. Third, I will apply my developed framework for demographic inference to test hypotheses regarding admixture dynamics (such as admixture timing, sex-biased admixture, and post-admixture selection) and reconstruct the population of admixed American populations. Altogether, I will develop comprehensive population-genetic tools for studying, reconstructing, and predicting how admixture and post-admixture selection processes influence the genomic diversity of admixed populations, both in humans and non-human organisms. Therefore, This research will greatly benefit population genetics, biodiversity conservation, biological anthropology and biomedical research. In particular, the expected new findings will reconstruct the putative African ancestral origins and the variable admixture histories of populations that have undergone the trans-Atlantic slave trade, the largest forced migration in human history.