Revisiting the African mtDNA landscape through complete mitochondrial genomes
Abstract
Africa harbors the richest diversity of mitochondrial DNA lineages, reflecting its central role in human evolutionary history. Early studies of mtDNA variation provided the first genetic evidence for the African origin of modern humans. With complete mitochondrial genome sequencing, we can now reconstruct maternal lineages with high resolution, yet large parts of the continent remain underrepresented. Using a newly developed long-range sequencing assay, we generated 1176 complete mitochondrial genomes from 13 countries across sub-Saharan Africa, focusing on previously understudied regions. We combined these with over 3600 publicly available African mitogenomes to produce a comprehensive dataset and updated overview of maternal genetic diversity across the continent. We contextualized this diversity with autosomal structure and information on major human expansions, integrating archeological and linguistic evidence. Our analyses suggest an initial demographic expansion of Niger-Congo speakers around 17 thousand years ago (kya), and an initial expansion associated with Bantu-speaking groups around 6 kya. We identify haplogroup L3e as a key marker of this early Bantu expansion, tracking its spread across sub-Saharan Africa. Distinct demographic signatures also emerge for different geographic sub-branches of Bantu speakers. These findings highlight the power of mitochondrial DNA to trace maternal ancestry and demographic history in Africa, while also acknowledging its limitations for phylogeographic reconstruction.
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BibTeX
@article{lankheet2026revisiting,
title = {{Revisiting the African mtDNA landscape through complete mitochondrial genomes}},
author = {Imke Lankheet and Afifa Chowdhury and Christian Tellgren-Roth and Cécile Jolly and André E R Soares and Miguel de Navascués and Sara Pacchiarotti and Lorenzo Maselli and Guy Kouarata and Jean-Pierre Donzo and Vinet Coetzee and Minique de Castro and Peter Ebbesen and Edita Priehodová and Eliška Podgorná and Viktor Černý and Susanne T Green and Pakou Harena and Lebarama Bakrobena and Forka Leypey Mathew Fomine and Zelalem Gebremariam Tolesa and Wendawek Abebe Mengesha and Michael de Jongh and Himla Soodyall and Koen Bostoen and Chiara Barbieri and Maximilian Larena and Helena Malmström and Carina M Schlebusch},
journal = {Communications Biology},
year = {2026},
month = jun,
doi = {10.1038/s42003-026-10330-9},
url = {https://hal.inrae.fr/hal-05683566v1},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Revisiting the African mtDNA landscape through complete mitochondrial genomes
AU - Imke Lankheet
AU - Afifa Chowdhury
AU - Christian Tellgren-Roth
AU - Cécile Jolly
AU - André E R Soares
AU - Miguel de Navascués
AU - Sara Pacchiarotti
AU - Lorenzo Maselli
AU - Guy Kouarata
AU - Jean-Pierre Donzo
AU - Vinet Coetzee
AU - Minique de Castro
AU - Peter Ebbesen
AU - Edita Priehodová
AU - Eliška Podgorná
AU - Viktor Černý
AU - Susanne T Green
AU - Pakou Harena
AU - Lebarama Bakrobena
AU - Forka Leypey Mathew Fomine
AU - Zelalem Gebremariam Tolesa
AU - Wendawek Abebe Mengesha
AU - Michael de Jongh
AU - Himla Soodyall
AU - Koen Bostoen
AU - Chiara Barbieri
AU - Maximilian Larena
AU - Helena Malmström
AU - Carina M Schlebusch
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/06/03
JO - Communications Biology
DO - 10.1038/s42003-026-10330-9
UR - https://hal.inrae.fr/hal-05683566v1
AB - Africa harbors the richest diversity of mitochondrial DNA lineages, reflecting its central role in human evolutionary history. Early studies of mtDNA variation provided the first genetic evidence for the African origin of modern humans. With complete mitochondrial genome sequencing, we can now reconstruct maternal lineages with high resolution, yet large parts of the continent remain underrepresented. Using a newly developed long-range sequencing assay, we generated 1176 complete mitochondrial genomes from 13 countries across sub-Saharan Africa, focusing on previously understudied regions. We combined these with over 3600 publicly available African mitogenomes to produce a comprehensive dataset and updated overview of maternal genetic diversity across the continent. We contextualized this diversity with autosomal structure and information on major human expansions, integrating archeological and linguistic evidence. Our analyses suggest an initial demographic expansion of Niger-Congo speakers around 17 thousand years ago (kya), and an initial expansion associated with Bantu-speaking groups around 6 kya. We identify haplogroup L3e as a key marker of this early Bantu expansion, tracking its spread across sub-Saharan Africa. Distinct demographic signatures also emerge for different geographic sub-branches of Bantu speakers. These findings highlight the power of mitochondrial DNA to trace maternal ancestry and demographic history in Africa, while also acknowledging its limitations for phylogeographic reconstruction.
SN - 2399-3642
ER -