Genetic differentiation in East African ethnicities and its relationship with endurance running success

Author:

Zani André L. S.ORCID,Gouveia Mateus H.,Aquino Marla M.ORCID,Quevedo RodrigoORCID,Menezes Rodrigo L.ORCID,Rotimi Charles,Lwande Gerald O.ORCID,Ouma Collins,Mekonnen EphremORCID,Fagundes Nelson J. R.ORCID

Abstract

Since the 1960s, East African athletes, mainly from Kenya and Ethiopia, have dominated long-distance running events in both the male and female categories. Further demographic studies have shown that two ethnic groups are overrepresented among elite endurance runners in each of these countries: the Kalenjin, from Kenya, and the Oromo, from Ethiopia, raising the possibility that this dominance results from genetic or/and cultural factors. However, looking at the life history of these athletes or at loci previously associated with endurance athletic performance, no compelling explanation has emerged. Here, we used a population approach to identify peaks of genetic differentiation for these two ethnicities and compared the list of genes close to these regions with a list, manually curated by us, of genes that have been associated with traits possibly relevant to endurance running in GWAS studies, and found a significant enrichment in both populations (Kalenjin, P = 0.048, and Oromo, P = 1.6x10-5). Those traits are mainly related to anthropometry, circulatory and respiratory systems, energy metabolism, and calcium homeostasis. Our results reinforce the notion that endurance running is a systemic activity with a complex genetic architecture, and indicate new candidate genes for future studies. Finally, we argue that a deterministic relationship between genetics and sports must be avoided, as it is both scientifically incorrect and prone to reinforcing population (racial) stereotyping.

Funder

Pró-Reitoria de Extensão, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul

conselho nacional de desenvolvimento científico e tecnológico

National Human Genome Research Institute

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior

Publisher

Public Library of Science (PLoS)

Subject

Multidisciplinary

Reference102 articles.

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