Boundaries and clines in the West Eurasian Y‐chromosome landscape: Insights from the European part of Russia

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Previous studies of Y chromosome variation have revealed that western Europe, the Volga‐Ural region, and the Caucasus differ dramatically with respect to Y‐SNP haplogroup composition. The European part of Russia is situated in between these three regions; to determine if these differences reflect clines or boundaries in the Y‐chromosome landscape, we analyzed 12 Y‐SNPs in 545 males from 12 populations from the European part of Russia. The majority of Russian Y chromosomes (from 74% to 94%) belong to three Y chromosomal lineages [I‐M170, R1a1‐M17, and N3‐TAT] that are also frequent in the rest of east Europe, north Europe, and/or in the Volga‐Ural region. We find significant but low correlations between haplogroup frequencies and the geographic location of populations, suggesting gradual change in the Y chromosome gene pool across western Eurasia. However, we also find some significant boundaries between populations, suggesting that both isolation and migration have influenced the Y chromosome landscape. Am J Phys Anthropol, 2008.