Population Structure in the Mediterranean Basin: A Y Chromosome Perspective

doi:10.1111/j.1529-8817.2005.00224.x

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Wiley InterScience

Annals of Human Genetics

Volume 70 Issue 2, Pages 207 - 225

Published Online: 13 Sep 2005

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Population Structure in the Mediterranean Basin: A Y Chromosome Perspective

C. Capelli ^1,2,*, N. Redhead ¹ , V. Romano ³ , F. Calì ⁴ , G. Lefranc ⁵ , V. Delague ^6,† , A. Megarbane ⁶ , A. E. Felice ⁷ , V. L. Pascali ² , P. I. Neophytou ⁸ , Z. Poulli ⁹ , A. Novelletto ¹⁰ , P. Malaspina ¹¹ , L. Terrenato ¹¹ , A. Berebbi ¹² , M. Fellous ¹³ , M. G. Thomas ¹ and D. B. Goldstein ¹

¹ Department of Biology, University College of London, London, UK ² Istituto di Medicina Legale,Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Rome, Italy ³ Department of Biopathology and Biomedical Methodologies, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy ⁴ Oasi Institute for Research on mental Retardation and Brain Aging (IRCCS), Troina, Italy ⁵ Université Montpellier II et Institut de Génétique Humaine, CNRS UPR 1142, Montpellier, France ⁶ Unité de Génétique Médicale, Faculté de Médecine, Université Saint-Joseph, Beyrouth, Lebanon ⁷ Laboratory of Molecular Genetics, Department of Pathology, University of Malta, Malta ⁸ Mendel Center for Biomedical Sciences, Eglomi, Nicosia, Cyprus ⁹ Cyprus Research Center (KYKEM), Nicosia, Cyprus ¹⁰ Department of Cell Biology, University of Calabria, Rende, Italy ¹¹ Department of Biology, University "Tor Vergata", Rome, Italy ¹² Hematology Institute, Kaplan Medical Center, Rehovot, Israel ¹³ Department of Human Genetics, Université Paris, Paris, France

*Corresponding author: Cristian Capelli, Genetic Identity Europe, Promega Corporation, Madison WI, U.S.A. Promega Italia, Via Decembrio 28, 20137 Milano. Tel: +39 0773 458535; Fax: +39 0773 458535. E-mail: cristian.capelli@promega.com ^†Current address: INSERM U491, Laboratoire Génétique Médicale et Développement Faculté de Médecine de la Timone, Marseille, France. The opinions expressed in this article by C. Capelli do not necessarily reflect those of Promega Corporation

KEYWORDS

Mediterranean • Y chromosome • population genetic structure • STRs • UEPs

Abstract

Near East, Jewish communities and Arabians: evidence of Arab male genetic contribution to Levantine populations

The Mediterranean region has been characterised by a number of pre-historical and historical demographic events whose legacy on the current genetic landscape is still a matter of debate. In order to investigate the degree of population structure across the Mediterranean, we have investigated Y chromosome variation in a large dataset of Mediterranean populations, 11 of which are first described here. Our analyses identify four main clusters in the Mediterranean that can be labelled as North Africa, Arab, Central-East and West Mediterranean. In particular, Near Eastern samples tend to separate according to the presence of Arab Y chromosome lineages, suggesting that the Arab expansion played a major role in shaping the current genetic structuring within the Fertile Crescent.

Received: 9 March 2005
Accepted: 18 July 2005

DIGITAL OBJECT IDENTIFIER (DOI)

10.1111/j.1529-8817.2005.00224.x About DOI