Y Chromosomes of Croatians

Eur J Hum Genet. 2003 Jul;11(7):535-42.

Y chromosomal heritage of Croatian population and its island isolates.

Barac L, Pericic M, Klaric IM, Rootsi S, Janicijevic B, Kivisild T, Parik J, Rudan I, Villems R, Rudan P.

1Institute for Anthropological Research, Zagreb, Croatia.

Y chromosome variation in 457 Croatian samples was studied using 16 SNPs/indel and eight STR loci. High frequency of haplogroup I in Croatian populations and the phylogeographic pattern in its background STR diversity over Europe make Adriatic coast one likely source of the recolonization of Europe following the Last Glacial Maximum. The higher frequency of I in the southern island populations is contrasted with higher frequency of group R1a chromosomes in the northern island of Krk and in the mainland. R1a frequency, while low in Greeks and Albanians, is highest in Polish, Ukrainian and Russian populations and could be a sign of the Slavic impact in the Balkan region. Haplogroups J, G and E that can be related to the spread of farming characterize the minor part (12.5%) of the Croatian paternal lineages. In one of the southern island (Hvar) populations, we found a relatively high frequency (14%) of lineages belonging to P(*)(xM173) cluster, which is unusual for European populations. Interestingly, the same population also harbored mitochondrial haplogroup F that is virtually absent in European populations - indicating a connection with Central Asian populations, possibly the Avars.

...

"The southern eastern Adriatic islands of Bra, Hvar and Korula (Figure 1) had the highest frequencies reported in Europe to date (54-66%) of haplogroup I defined by M170. According to Underhill et al45 this mutation originated in Europe before the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) and might have spread together with the Gravettian culture. Although, the frequency of its ancestral F* lineages is very low in Europe,45 their traces have been found in the investigated Croatian population (1.3%)."

...

"High frequencies of mutation M170 noticed in the Croatian population investigated in this study and Bosnian and Herzegovian population (our unpublished data) imply that the Western Balkan Peninsula could have been an LGM reservoir of M170, a starting point of an expansion that spread M170 around the neighboring populations."

...

"The lack of haplogroup N and its Tat C daughter clade in Croatians suggests that proto-Slavic males probably did not carry this lineage in substantial frequency and that Russians and Poles have likely obtained it through a recent admixture with Finno-Ugric people."

Link (requires access)

Posted by Dienekes at June 26, 2003 09:54 PM | PermaLink