Comparing genetic ancestry and genealogy. South African Y chromosomes and surnames

Christoff Erasmus of the Department of Genetics, University of Pretoria

Christoff Erasmus

Forty one members of the West Gauteng branch attended this interesting presentation on 24th March 2012.

There are only two sections of DNA which are carried over from one parent to the children. This is the Y chromosome which is carried over from father to son. By studying this Y chromosome, information about the male ancestors, going back thousands of years, can be seen. Similarly, the mitochondrial DNA is carried over from the mother to her children, but only the daughters can carry this over to their own children.

Studies of the mitochondrial DNA gives information about the mother’s maternal line. This DNA research is a good method of determining the ancestral line of populations. Researchers at Pretoria University are looking at the origins of genetic material in the Afrikaner population, by studying mutations in different parts of this DNA. DNA is carried over from one generation to the next without many faults occurring during the duplication process. However from time to time, a fault (mutation) does occur. This mutation becomes part of a person’s DNA. This person will pass on the same mutation to the next generation. Researchers look at the tempo of the mutations. These mutations can be used as markers to identify shared patrilineal relationships.

Dennis Pretorius

Kriek Fourie

The Afrikaner is a good population to study mutations in the Y chromosome, because the genealogy has been carefully recorded.

The surnames being researched are Barkhuizen, Basson, Botha, Coetzee, Davel, De Beer, Erasmus, Fourie, Kamfer, kruger, Labuschagne, Lombard, Malan, Naude, Potgieter, Pretorius, Prinsloo,Steyn, Swanepoel, Van der Merwe, Venter and Viljoen.

Petrus van der Merwe

Three of our members could participate in this study. They were Kriek Fourie, Dennis Pretorius and Petrus vd Merwe. Small samples of saliva were taken as this contains cells from the inside of the mouth. DNA can be isolated from these cells and used for this research project. Consent forms had to be completed.
 
Christoff Erasmus left sample bottles so that other members, who have the surnames being researched, could also participate.