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Y-chromosomal diversity suggests that Baltic males share common Finno-Ugric-speaking forefathers
Virpi Laitinen1, Päivi Lahermo, Pertti Sistonen
1Department of Medical Genetics, Biomedical Institute, University of Turku, Finland. virlaiti@utu.fi
Objective:
To elucidate the genetic relationships between Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian men by studying Y-chromosomal variation in these people.
Methods:
The allelic status of five deep-rooted marker loci (YAP, Tat, M9, 92R7 and SRY-1532) was determined for 346 Baltic males. On the basis of single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) haplotypes, Y chromosomes were divided into six haplogroups, and the Baltic haplogroup distribution compared with that in 7 European reference populations. Haplogroup frequencies, diversities and genetic distances (F(ST) values) were calculated. The relationships between populations were further illustrated using Mantel test, neighbor-joining tree and principal-component map.
Results:
We found the Indo-European-speaking Latvians and Lithuanians to be genetically very similar to the Finno-Ugric-speaking Estonians. When compared to the reference populations, Baltic males were most closely related to the Finno-Ugric-speaking Mari, followed by their Finnish and Slavonic neighbors.
Conclusions:
The genetic similarity existing between Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian men suggests that they originate from the same male founder population. Since the Baltic Y-chromosomal haplogroup distribution more closely resembles that of Finno-Ugric than Indo-European-speaking populations, we propose a hypothesis that Baltic males share a common Finno-Ugric ancestry.