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Probability of Mitochondrial Lineage Extinction in Female Offspring, Modern and Paleolithic: Branching Process Analysis

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Abstract

We evaluate the probability of extinction of the female offspring of two populations of women: the one Paleolithic, the other that of Italy today. In both cases it is assumed that possible extinction arises exclusively on account of limitations in the degree of fertility and/or an imbalance in the sex-ratio of the population. The value is obtained as the probability that a Branching Process describing the evolution of the offspring by a progenitor degenerates to a “Blank Generation,” that is, a generation without women. Mathematically, it derives from a solution between 0 and 1 of a linear equation whose coefficients are the probabilities that a single progenitor breeds various integer numbers of daughters. We evaluated such probabilities by consulting literature. The probability of branch extinction is also the probability of extinction of progenitor’s mitochondrial lineage.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. BiostAT, Polo Universitario Asti Studi Superiori, Asti, 14100, Italy

    G. D’Amore & M. Di Bacco

  2. Department of Life Sciences and Systems Biology, University of Turin, Turin, 10124, Italy

    A. Orru

  3. Dipartimento di Economia Marco Biagi, University of Modena e Reggio Emilia, Modena, 41121, Italy

    P. Frederic

Authors
  1. G. D’Amore
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  2. A. Orru
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  3. P. Frederic
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  4. M. Di Bacco
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Correspondence to P. Frederic.

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D’Amore, G., Orru, A., Frederic, P. et al. Probability of Mitochondrial Lineage Extinction in Female Offspring, Modern and Paleolithic: Branching Process Analysis. Russ J Genet 54, 1120–1123 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1134/S1022795418090028

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S1022795418090028

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