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18. Parekh, A.B. (2008). Ca2+ microdomains near plasma membrane Ca2+ channels: impact on cell function. J. Physiol. 586, 30433054. 19. Chang, W.C., Di Capite, J., Singaravelu, K., Nelson, C., Halse, V., and Parekh, A.B. (2008). Local calcium inux through calcium release-activated calcium (CRAC) channels stimulates production of an intracellular

messenger and an intercellular pro-inammatory signal. J. Biol. Chem. 283, 46224631. 20. Mogami, H., Nakano, K., Tepikin, A.V., and Petersen, O.H. (1997). Ca2+ ow via tunnels in polarized cells: recharging of apical Ca2+ stores by focal Ca2+ entry through basal membrane patch. Cell 88, 4955.

Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics, Oxford University, Parks Road, Oxford, UK. E-mail: anant.parekh@dpag.ox.ac.uk
DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2009.01.012

Human Migrations: The Two Roads Taken

America was peopled from Asia by at least the end of the last ice age, but the exact timing of entry and the composition of the source population are unclear. A new analysis of two rare mitochondrial haplogroups suggests two separate Asian migrations into the Americas, indicating simultaneous but independent Asian source populations for early American colonists. Dennis H. ORourke That the aboriginal populations of America emigrated from Asia via land was suggested as early as 1590 by the de Acosta [1]. Later, Jesuit Friar Jose French naturalist Georges-Louis Leclerc de Buffon [2] attributed the morphological similarities between Native Americans and East Asians to shared ancestry. With the demonstration that a land bridge existed between northeast Asia and northwest North America during the last glacial maximum (w50kya15kya) [3], and the apparent widespread distribution of archaeological sites of the Clovis culture in North America shortly after the last glacial maximum, both the geographical locus and approximate timing of the colonizing migration seemed conrmed [4,5]. Nevertheless, many questions remained. How many migration events and migrants constituted the colonization of the Americas? What was the precise timing of colonization, and via which route(s) did the colonists arrive? Both archaeological and genetic approaches to population history have been used to address the origins of American populations. Genetic investigations have long noted the similarity of American populations to those of south-central Siberia and Mongolia, suggesting this interior Asian geographical region as a likely source for American colonizing populations [4]. In a recent paper in Current Biology, Perego and colleagues [6] analyzed the geographical distribution of sequence variation in two rare mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) lineages in American and Asian populations to gain additional insight into American colonization. The strongest evidence for the Asian origin of Native American populations is genetic [712]. Early work demonstrated that populations of the Americas are characterized by only four mtDNA haplogroups [13]. As more populations were examined, and sequence diversity within the haplogroups was characterized, it became clear that mtDNA diversity in the Americas actually encompassed the four major haplogroups (A2, B2, C1, D1) as well as several minor ones, including D4h3 and X2a. Perugo et al. [6] analyzed 69 whole mtDNA genomes for these two minor haplogroups 55 new sequences and 14 derived from published reports. They found that these two mitochondrial lineages show a peculiar geographical distribution: X2a is only common among native populations in northern North America, especially around the Great Lakes region. Observed also at low frequency in some northern plains groups and in the Pacic Northwest, it is essentially absent from other regions of the Americas. Haplogroup D, in contrast, is ubiquitous in the Americas south of the arctic, while its sublineage D4h3 appears geographically limited to populations inhabiting the Pacic coast of both American continents. This sublineage is known from skeletal remains in south coastal Alaska [14] and throughout indigenous coastal populations as far south as Chile. Indeed, it is most frequent and variable

among populations of western South America. Hence, one of these rare mtDNA haplogroups is geographically restricted to northern North America, while the other is most common along Pacic coastal South America. Under any model assuming a single origin of Americans such a geographical distribution is unexpected, suggesting the haplogroups are derived from two separate founding populations (Figure 1). Of the 46 D4h3 genomes analyzed, only one came from outside the Americas, represented by a single Chinese sample. Thus, most of the sequence variation that characterizes the sublineages in this haplogroup appears to have arisen in America, or to have been lost through drift in the Asian source populations. Haplogroup X2a has no close relatives outside the Americas [15], suggesting that this haplogroup arose after, or during, the original migration to America [6]. Dating the entry of mtDNA clades to the Americas has always been problematic. Archaeological dates initially suggested a rapid colonization of Clovis people after the last glacial maximum, approximately 11,000 years ago. However, recent archaeological investigations clearly indicate the presence of people in both North and South America substantially earlier. Coalescent models to estimate dates of origin from molecular genetic data may use different assumptions of mutation rate, calibration techniques, and estimation procedures. Differences in the assumptions made regarding mutation rate, for example, may result in over- or under-estimation of coalescent dates [16]. Accordingly, estimates of the genetic origin of American populations have ranged from 15,000 to over 30,000 years [5,812]. The estimated divergence values for D4h3 (w0.00022 substitutions/site) and X2a (w0.00021 substitutions/site) in the data of Perego et al. [6] are nearly identical, indicating essentially simultaneous

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X2a migration route

D4h3 migration route

Current Biology

Figure 1. Two migration routes of the rst Americans. Analysis of the rare mitochondrial DNA haplotypes X2a and D4h3 in Native Americans suggest the Americas were populated from two independent Asian source populations.

entry and diversication in the Americas. To evaluate this estimate relative to the more common Native American haplogroups, a phylogeographical analysis of an additional 276 mitochondrial coding region sequences was performed [6]. Average sequence divergence across the haplogroups was remarkably uniform, indicating that both of the rare mtDNA lineages expanded simultaneously in the Americas, and both were introduced to the hemisphere in concert with an overlapping set of other major haplogroups that are still found in Native American populations. Perego et al. [6] use a novel rate averaging approach in order to ameliorate the coalescent calibration problem [16]. The result is an average estimated age of the native American clades of w16,000 years (range: 14.218.7kya), consistent with the temporal range inferred from other recent molecular studies [812] as well as with archaeological data in both South America at the Chilean site of Monte Verde [17], Paisley Cave in North America [18], and possibly others [5], all of which indicate widespread

habitation in the Americas before 12,000 BP. Perego et al.s dual migration model [6] suggests that the X2a haplogroup arrived in northern North America via an ice-free corridor between the Laurentide and Cordilleran glacial masses, while D4h3 entered the Americas via a Pacic coastal route. The virtual lack of geographical overlap in the distribution of these ancient mtDNA lineages, together with their identical dates of divergence, requires that they have independent but simultaneous origins in Asia. This inference merits consideration for several reasons. First, molecular genetic data are generally more consistent with a single migration to the Americas rather than multiple migrations (e.g. [812]). Most view this single migration as traversing interior Beringia from Asia to America [8,10] followed by a southern dispersal between glacial masses, while others argue for an early coastal colonization [9,11]. These studies included populations from throughout the Americas and examined variation in all Native American mtDNA haplogroups or large numbers of nuclear polymorphisms. The study by Perego et al. [6] illustrates that it can be informative to analyze rarer haplogroups with discrete geographical distributions. Second, the results raise questions regarding the demographic processes of the colonizing populations. They suggest that at least two migrations are required to account for the geographical distribution of haplogroups D4h3 and X2a, and that both were introduced simultaneously and early in the colonization process. If this is true, then why didnt their founding populations disperse geographically, admix with dispersing populations from the other migration, and result in a less discrete, more gradual distribution of these lineages across the Americas? Ecologically, we might expect coastal migrations to be more rapid than dispersal of interior continental colonizers, but the long-term maintenance of the geographical restriction of these founding haplogroups suggests very different population dynamics of colonizing populations. Another intriguing question, not addressed by Perego et al. [6], is why, if the transit of migrating populations was from North to South, haplogroup

D4h3 is so much more common and diverse in South America than in North America. It seems likely that additional genetic characterization of North American populations and detailed study of the population dynamics of colonizing populations are required for greater clarity [19,20]. Genetic insights into the origin of modern Native American populations are of more than academic interest. Much effort continues to be expended in mining genetic databases to rene our knowledge of the origin of modern humans in Africa and their dispersal to other continents. As the last continents colonized by members of our species, the Americas represent the end of the modern human dispersal to major continental land-masses. Having arrived only fairly recently, and presumably isolated for millennia after colonization, inter-continental gene ow between the initial American Indian colonists and their ancestral source populations is generally considered to be minimal. If a signature of colonization and dispersal is to be read in the genetic record, it should be clearer and more straightforward in the Americas than elsewhere. If we are unable to reconstruct the colonization of the Americas from genetic data, we must be concerned about our ability to infer much more ancient and complex population histories and origins elsewhere, e.g., in Africa, Europe, or Asia. Despite the 80 year history of genetic studies in the Americas, the real work is now beginning to fully elucidate the genetic history of two continents. It is an exciting time to be studying genetic variation and prehistory in the Americas.
References
1. de Acosta, J. (2002). Natural and Moral History of the Indies, J.E. Mangan, ed. (Durham: Duke University Press). 2. Buffon, C.D.G. (1749). Histoire Naturelle (Paris: Imprimerie Royale). 3. Hopkins, D.M. (1967). The Bering Land Bridge (Palo Alto: Stanford University Press). 4. Crawford, M.H. (1998). The Origins of Native Americans. Evidence from Anthropological Genetics (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press). 5. Goebel, T., Waters, M.R., and ORourke, D.H. (2008). The late Pleistocene dispersal of modern humans in the Americas. Science 319, 14971502. 6. Perego, U.A., Achilli, A., Angerhofer, N., Accetturo, M., Pala, M., Olivieri, A., Kashani, B.H., Ritchie, K.H., Scozzari, R., Kong, Q.-P., et al. (2009). Distinctive but concomitant Paleo-Indian migration routes from Beringia marked by two rare mtDNA haplogroups. Curr. Biol. 19, 18. 7. ORourke, D.H. (2007). Blood groups, immunoglobulins, and genetic variation.

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In: Handbook of North American Indians. Vol. 3. Environment, Origins, and Population. D.H. Ubelaker, ed. (Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution), pp. 762776. Tamm, E., Kivisild, T., Reidla, M., Metspalu, M., Smith, D.G., Mulligan, C.J., Bravi, C.M., Rickards, O., Martinez-Labarga, C., Khusnutdinova, E.K., et al. (2007). Beringian standtill and spread of Native American founders. PLoS ONE 2, e829. Wang, S., Lewis, C.M., Jr., Jakobsson, M., Ramachandran, S., Ray, N., Bedoya, G., Rojas, W., Parra, M.V., Molina, J.A., Gallo, C., et al. (2007). Genetic variation and population structure in Native Americans. PLoS Genet. 3, e185. Kitchen, A., Miyamoto, M.M., and Mulligan, C.J. (2008). A three-stage colonization model for the peopling of the Americas. PLoS ONE 3, e1596. Fagundes, N.J.R., Kanitz, R., Eckert, R., Valls, A.C.S., Bogo, M.R., Salzano, F.M., Smith, D.G., Silva, W.A., Jr., Zago, M.A., Ribeiro-dos-Santos, A.K., et al. (2008). Mitochondrial population genomics supports a single Pre-Clovis origin with a coastal route for the peopling of the Americas. Am. J. Hum. Genet. 82, 583592.

12. Achilli, A., Perego, U.A., Bravi, C.M., Coble, M.D., Kong, Q.-P., Woodward, S.R., Salas, A., Torroni, A., and Bandelt, H.-J. (2008). The phylogeny of the four pan-american mtDNA haplogroups: Implications for evolutionary and disease studies. PLoS ONE 3, e1764. 13. Torroni, A., Schurr, T.G., Cabell, M.F., Brown, M.D., Neel, J.V., Larsen, M., Smith, D.G., Vullo, C.M., and Wallace, D.C. (1993). Asian afnities and continental radiation of the four founding Native American mtDNAs. Am. J. Hum. Genet. 53, 563590. 14. Kemp, B.M., Malhi, R.S., McDonough, J., Bolnick, D.A., Eshleman, J.A., Rickards, O., Martinez-Labarga, C., Johnson, J.R., Lorenz, J.G., Dixon, E.J., et al. (2007). Genetic analysis of early Holocene skeletal remains from Alaska and its implications for settlement of the Americas. Am. J. Phys. Anthropol. 132, 605621. 15. Reidla, M., Kivisild, T., Metspalu, E., Kaldma, K., Tambets, K., Tolk, H.V., Parik, J.l., Loogvali, E.L., Derenko, M., Malyarchuck, B., et al. (2003). Origin and diffusion of mtDNA haplogroup X. Am. J. Hum. Genet. 73, 11781190. 16. Ho, S.Y.W., and Larson, G. (2006). Molecular clocks: when times are a-changin. Trends Genet. 22, 7983.

17. Dillehay, T.D., Ramirez, D., Pino, M., Collins, M.B., Rossen, J., and Pino-Navarro, J.D. (2008). Monte Verde: seaweed, food, medicine, and the peopling of South America. Science 320, 784786. 18. Gilbert, M.T., Jenkins, D.L., Gotherstrom, A., Naveran, N., Sanchez, J.J., Hofreiter, M., Thomsen, P.F., Binladen, J., Higham, T.F., Yohe, R.M., et al. (2008). DNA from pre-Clovis human coprolites in Oregon, North America. Science 320, 786789. 19. Moore, J. (2001). Evaluating ve models of human colonization. Am. Anthropol. 103, 395408. 20. Marchani, E.E., Rogers, A.R., and ORourke, D.H. (2007). The Thule expansion: Rejecting population histories using mtDNA data and computer simulation. Am. J. Phys. Anthropol. 134, 281284.

Department of Anthropology, University of Utah, 270 S. 1400 E., Rm. 102, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA. E-mail: orourke@anthro.utah.edu

DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2009.01.021

Cell Polarization: Its All about Being in Shape

In eukaryotic cells microtubules and actin laments help to generate the spatial organization of the cytoplasm that is required for polarity and shape. Recent work in ssion yeast demonstrates that changing cell shape in turn reorganizes the cytoskeleton and cell polarization machinery. Ramanujam Srinivasan and Mithilesh Mishra* Decades of research have established that cell shape and spatial organization of the cytoplasm are guided by the cytoskeleton, but it remains unknown how or whether the imparted shape inuences the underlying cytoskeleton and polarization of the cell. Two studies published recently in Current Biology from Terenna et al. [1] and Minc et al. [2] address how changing the cell shape of ssion yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe affects its microtubule organization and polarization. They demonstrate that changes in cell shape lead to rapid reorganization of the microtubule cytoskeleton, which in turn results in the polarization of the cell cortex at ectopic sites that may grow into new cell tips. Many of the molecular mechanisms controlling cell polarity are thought to be conserved from mammalian cells to simpler eukaryotes like yeast, whose stereotypic pattern of growth reects an underlying polarity [3,4]. Fission yeast is a cylindrically shaped organism that grows exclusively at its cell ends, thus providing a simple system to study polarized cell growth. Growing ends of ssion yeast contain actin patches linked to polarized actin cables, which serve as tracts for the delivery of secretory components for cell growth [5]. The formin For3p concentrates at cell tips where it nucleates actin cables. For3p is activated at the cell tips by various factors, including the forming-activating protein Bud6p and the Cdc42p GTPase [6]. Microtubules regulate the localization of this self re-enforcing actin system at the growing cell ends. The microtubule network in ssion yeast is made up of between three and ve antiparallel microtubule bundles largely aligned along the long axis of the cell. The minus ends of microtubules are clustered around the nucleus at the cell center, while

the dynamic plus ends extend towards the cell tip where they contact the cortex for 12 minutes before undergoing disassembly from the plus end, known as catastrophe [7,8]. Microtubules constantly explore the cellular space, and therefore provide a good means for the delivery of regulatory factors to the cell ends. Various factors, including the kelch-repeat protein Tea1p and SH3 domain protein Tea4p, are delivered to the cell ends by the microtubules. As the microtubule plus end contacts the cell cortex, Tea1p and Tea4p are ofoaded there via the membrane-bound receptor Mod5p. Tea1p and Tea4p subsequently recruit For3p and its activator Bud6p, thereby restricting actin assembly and cell growth to the cell ends [5,912]. Thus, the microtubule and actin cytoskeletons collaborate to orchestrate cell growth at the tips. Fission yeast cells encapsulated in a rigid cell wall are born with a cylindrical shape and with dened cell tips and ordered cytoskeletal arrays. It is known that the organization of microtubules along the long axis of the cell is dependent on its cylindrical shape. Mutant cells with altered morphology also have disorganized microtubule bundles [10] but the causality between