Mitochondrial DNA and Y chromosome variation provides evidence for a recent common ancestry between Native Americans and Indigenous Altaians - PubMed (original) (raw)

Mitochondrial DNA and Y chromosome variation provides evidence for a recent common ancestry between Native Americans and Indigenous Altaians

Matthew C Dulik et al. Am J Hum Genet. 2012.

Erratum in

Abstract

The Altai region of southern Siberia has played a critical role in the peopling of northern Asia as an entry point into Siberia and a possible homeland for ancestral Native Americans. It has an old and rich history because humans have inhabited this area since the Paleolithic. Today, the Altai region is home to numerous Turkic-speaking ethnic groups, which have been divided into northern and southern clusters based on linguistic, cultural, and anthropological traits. To untangle Altaian genetic histories, we analyzed mtDNA and Y chromosome variation in northern and southern Altaian populations. All mtDNAs were assayed by PCR-RFLP analysis and control region sequencing, and the nonrecombining portion of the Y chromosome was scored for more than 100 biallelic markers and 17 Y-STRs. Based on these data, we noted differences in the origin and population history of Altaian ethnic groups, with northern Altaians appearing more like Yeniseian, Ugric, and Samoyedic speakers to the north, and southern Altaians having greater affinities to other Turkic speaking populations of southern Siberia and Central Asia. Moreover, high-resolution analysis of Y chromosome haplogroup Q has allowed us to reshape the phylogeny of this branch, making connections between populations of the New World and Old World more apparent and demonstrating that southern Altaians and Native Americans share a recent common ancestor. These results greatly enhance our understanding of the peopling of Siberia and the Americas.

Copyright © 2012 The American Society of Human Genetics. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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Figures

Figure 1

Figure 1

Map of the Altai Republic and Locations of Sample Collection

Figure 2

Figure 2

MDS Plot of FST Genetic Distances Generated from mtDNA HVS1 Sequences in Siberian and Central Asian Populations Circle, southern Siberian; diamond, northwestern Siberian; square, Central Asian.

Figure 3

Figure 3

MDS Plot of RST Genetic Distances Generated from Y Chromosome STR Haplotypes in Siberian and Central Asian Populations Circle, southern Siberian; diamond, northwestern Siberian; square, Central Asian.

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