Pimenta, JoãoLopes, Alexandra M.Carracedo, ÁngelArenas, MiguelAmorim, AntónioComas, David, 1969-2019-09-052019-09-052019Pimenta J, Lopes AM, Carracedo A, Arenas M, Amorim A, Comas D. Spatially explicit analysis reveals complex human genetic gradients in the Iberian Peninsula. Sci Rep. 2019; 9(1):7825. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-44121-62045-2322http://hdl.handle.net/10230/42245The Iberian Peninsula is a well-delimited geographic region with a rich and complex human history. However, the causes of its genetic structure and past migratory dynamics are not yet fully understood. In order to shed light on them, here we evaluated the gene flow and genetic structure throughout the Iberian Peninsula with spatially explicit modelling applied to a georeferenced genetic dataset composed of genome-wide SNPs from 746 individuals belonging to 17 different regions of the Peninsula. We found contrasting patterns of genetic structure throughout Iberia. In particular, we identified strong patterns of genetic differentiation caused by relevant barriers to gene flow in northern regions and, on the other hand, a large genetic similarity in central and southern regions. In addition, our results showed a preferential north to south migratory dynamics and suggest a sex-biased dispersal in Mediterranean and southern regions. The estimated genetic patterns did not fit with the geographical relief of the Iberian landscape and they rather seem to follow political and linguistic territorial boundaries.application/pdfeng© The Author(s) 2019. Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.info:eu-repo/semantics/articlehttp://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-44121-6Biological anthropologyGenetic variationinfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess