Exploring genetic variability of genes involved in nutrition and thermoregulation processes in european populations

Environmental and cultural changes, such as those affecting dietary habits, are known to have substantially affected populations’ allele frequencies over human evolutionary history, triggering several adaptive processes. In some cases, especially since the Neolithic transition, they were established so rapidly to prevent adequate genetic adaptation to new nutritional/ecological conditions, thus potentially leading to various common chronic diseases. To detect genetic signatures of some of these evolutionary events and taking advantage from the 1000Genomes project dataset, we have analysed patterns of variation at a set of genes involved in nutritional and thermogenesis processes. Our preliminary results indicate PRDM16, a gene involved in the development of brown and beige adipocytes, as the most polymorphic locus within Europe. For instance, clusters and FST analyses pointed out completely different patterns between northern and southern European populations, suggesting the plausible action of climatic selective pressures on this gene. This study was conducted within the framework of the EPIC project (PRIN2012).