Belén López

High Level of Mislabeling in Spanish and Greek Hake Markets Suggests the Fraudulent Introduction of African Species

DNA analysis of hake products commercialized in southern European (Spanish and Greek) market chains have demonstrated more than 30% mislabeling, on the basis of species substitution. Tails and fillets were more mislabeled than other products, such as slices and whole pieces. African species were substitute species for products labeled as American and European species, and we suggest it is a case of deliberate economically profitable mislabeling because real market prices of European and American hake products are higher than those of African in Spanish market chains. The presented results suggest fraud detection that disadvantages African producers. Government-mandated genetic surveys of commercial hakes and the use of subsequent statements of fair trade on labels of seafood products could help to reduce fraud levels in a global market of increasingly conscious consumers sensitive to ethical issues.

Socio-cultural factors in dental diseases in the Medieval and early Modern Age of northern Spain

The aim of this study is to present, discuss and compare the results of pathological conditions in teeth from skeletal remains found in the northern part of the Iberian Peninsula (Spain) in four Medieval cemeteries (late 15th century) and three cemeteries from the Modern Age (late 18th century). The final objective was to evaluate the impact of socioeconomic and cultural changes that took place during the early Modern Age in Spain, on oral health. Dental caries and antemortem tooth loss were considered as indicators of dental disease. A significant increase of both dental caries and antemortem tooth loss occurred in Modern Age individuals when compared to Medieval values, as reported for other regions. Increased trade with other continents may explain this deterioration of dental health, as food exchanges (mainly with America) contributed to diet changes for the overall population, including higher carbohydrate consumption (introduction of potatoes) at the expense of other vegetables. A sex-specific increase of dental disease with age, and a significantly higher prevalence of carious lesions in Modern Age females than in males, were also found. These changes can be explained by women having had limited access to dental care after the Middle-Modern Age transition, as a consequence of socio-cultural and political changes. In these changes, an increasing influence of the Catholic Church in Spanish society has to be noted, as it can contribute to the explanation of the unequal dental health of men and women. Women were socially excluded from dental care by regulations inspired by religious precepts.

CHRONOLOGICAL CHANGES IN UPPER PALEOLITHIC FISHERIES REVEALED BY MUSEUM ARCHIVAL MATERIAL

ABSTRACT Salmonid vertebrae in mixed faunal remains from North Iberian archaeological sites of the upper Paleolithic were analyzed to determine specimen age, migratory status, and the seasonality of catch, based on annual growth marks. Fish size was back calculated from vertebra size using published equations. Although sample size is very small, significant changes in the average size and migratory status of fished specimens, and in the seasonality of fishing were detected. Salmonids (Atlantic salmon Salmo salar and brown trout Salmo trutta) were present as a resource in human diet in different climatic conditions. However, preferential winter harvest was prevalent starting after the Last Glacial Maximum, although this may be an artifact of the data related to sea-level rise. The main potential impact of prehistoric fishing habits on salmonid populations was the removal of the larger breeders from the rivers, thus indirectly promoting the reproduction of smaller fish (i.e., selection for small size, although most likely unintended). The methodology described in this study, if applied to larger collections and/or samples, can provide information on how salmonids reacted to past changes in harvest or climate, and could help to predict the consequences of current environmental and climatic changes.

Assessing the Genetic Influence of Ancient Sociopolitical Structure: Micro-differentiation Patterns in the Population of Asturias (Northern Spain)

The human populations of the Iberian Peninsula are the varied result of a complex mixture of cultures throughout history, and are separated by clear social, cultural, linguistic or geographic barriers. The stronger genetic differences between closely related populations occur in the northern third of Spain, a phenomenon commonly known as “micro-differentiation”. It has been argued and discussed how this form of genetic structuring can be related to both the rugged landscape and the ancient societies of Northern Iberia, but this is difficult to test in most regions due to the intense human mobility of previous centuries. Nevertheless, the Spanish autonomous community of Asturias shows a complex history which hints of a certain isolation of its population. This, joined together with a difficult terrain full of deep valleys and steep mountains, makes it suitable for performing a study of genetic structure, based on mitochondrial DNA and Y-Chromosome markers. Our analyses do not only show that there are micro-differentiation patterns inside the Asturian territory, but that these patterns are strikingly similar between both uniparental markers. The inference of barriers to gene flow also indicates that Asturian populations from the coastal north and the mountainous south seem to be relatively isolated from the rest of the territory. These findings are discussed in light of historic and geographic data and, coupled with previous evidence, show that the origin of the current genetic patterning might indeed lie in Roman and Pre-Roman sociopolitical divisions.

Introducing human population biology through an easy laboratory exercise on mitochondrial DNA

This article describes an easy and cheap laboratory exercise for students to discover their own mitochondrial haplogroup. Students use buccal swabs to obtain mucosa cells as noninvasive tissue samples, extract DNA, and with a simple polymerase chain reaction‐restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis they can obtain DNA fragments of different sizes that can be visualized in agarose gels. The analysis of these fragments can reveal the mitochondrial haplogroup of each student. The results of the exercise can be used to provide additional insights into the genetic variation of human populations.

Over the sands and far away: Interpreting an Iberian mitochondrial lineage with ancient Western African origins

There is an ongoing effort to characterize the genetic links between Africa and Europe, mostly using lineages and haplotypes that are specific to one continent but had an ancient origin in the other. Mitochondrial DNA has been proven to be a very useful tool for this purpose since a high number of putatively European‐specific variants of the African L* lineages have been defined over the years. Due to their geographic locations, Spain and Portugal seem to be ideal places for searching for these lineages.

Mitochondrial diversity patterns and the Magdalenian resettlement of Europe : new insights from the edge of the Franco-Cantabrian refuge

Phylogeography of the mitochondrial lineages commonly found in Western Europe can be interpreted in the light of a postglacial resettlement of the continent. The center of this proposal lies in the Franco-Cantabrian glacial refuge, located in the northern Iberian Peninsula and Southwestern France. Recently, this interpretation has been confronted by the unexpected patterns of diversity found in some European haplogroups. To shed new lights on this issue, research on Iberian populations is crucial if events behind the actual genetics of the European continent are to be untangled. In this regard, the region of Asturias has not been extensively studied, despite its convoluted history with prolonged periods of isolation. As mitochondrial DNA is a kind of data that has been commonly used in human population genetics, we conducted a thorough regional study in which we collected buccal swabs from 429 individuals with confirmed Asturian ancestry. The joint analysis of these sequences with a large continent-wide database and previously published diversity patterns allowed us to discuss a new explanation for the population dynamics inside the Franco-Cantabrian area, based on range expansion theory. This approximation to previously contradictory findings has made them compatible with most proposals about the postglacial resettlement of Western Europe.

Medical diagnostic methods applied to a medieval female with vitamin D deficiency from the north of Spain

Vitamin D deficiency is a pathological condition that affects bone metabolism by preventing proper mineralization, which eventually leads to bone deformities and other pathological conditions such as osteoporosis, increased bone fragility and fractures. The aim of this study is to present a case of vitamin D deficiency, but also to note how the application of several complementary techniques is a fundamental step in the establishing an accurate diagnosis. These techniques range from classical palaeopathological analysis to modern clinical practice. After the macroscopic examination of a medieval female skeleton from Palencia (Spain), where various bone deformations were observed, a differential diagnosis could not establish a definitive cause. Radiological, bone density, and histological studies were carried out, finally allowing to confirm a vitamin D deficiency suffered in both childhood and adulthood. This is a clear example, with practical applications, of the importance of interdisciplinarity to reveal insights about the life history and physical health of ancient individuals.

Evaluation of large-scale genetic structure in complex demographic and historical scenarios: the mitochondrial DNA and Y-chromosome pools of the Iberian Atlantic façade.

Genetic structural patterns of human populations are usually a combination of long-term evolutionary forces and short-term social, cultural, and demographic processes. Recently, using mitochondrial DNA and Y-chromosome loci, various studies in northern Spain have found evidence that the geographical distribution of Iron Age tribal peoples might have influenced current patterns of genetic structuring in several autochthonous populations. Using the wealth of data that are currently available from the whole territory of the Iberian Peninsula, we have evaluated its genetic structuring in the spatial scale of the Atlantic façade. Hierarchical tree modeling procedures, combined with a classic analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA), were used to model known sociocultural divisions from the third century BCE to the eighth century CE, contrasting them with uniparental marker data. Our results show that, while mountainous and abrupt areas of the Iberian North bear the signals of long-term isolation in their maternal and paternal gene pools, the makeup of the Atlantic façade as a whole can be related to tribal population groups that predate the Roman conquest of the Peninsula. The maintenance through time of such a structure can be related to the numerous geographic barriers of the Iberian mainland, which have historically conditioned its settlement patterns and the occurrence of genetic drift processes.