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Y-chromosome variation in Tajiks and Iranians
Boris Malyarchuk1, Miroslava Derenko, Marcin Wozniak
1Genetics Laboratory, Institute of Biological Problems of the North, Russian Academy of Sciences, Magadan, Russia.
Aim:
The purpose of this study was to characterize Y-chromosome diversity in Tajiks from Tajikistan and in Persians and Kurds from Iran.
Method:
Y-chromosome haplotypes were identified in 40 Tajiks, 77 Persians and 25 Kurds, using 12 short tandem repeats (STR) and 18 binary markers.
Results:
High genetic diversity was observed in the populations studied. Six of 12 haplogroups were common in Persians, Kurds and Tajiks, but only three haplogroups (G-M201, J-12f2 and L-M20) were the most frequent in all populations, comprising together ~60% of the Y-chromosomes in the pooled data set. Analysis of genetic distances between Y-STR haplotypes revealed that the Kurds showed a great distance to the Iranian-speaking populations of Iran, Afghanistan and Tajikistan. The presence of Indian-specific haplogroups L-M20, H1-M52 and R2a-M124 in both Tajik samples from Afghanistan and Tajikistan demonstrates an apparent genetic affinity between Tajiks from these two regions.
Conclusions:
Despite the marked similarities between Y-chromosome gene pools of Iranian-speaking populations, there are differences between them, defined by many factors, including geographic and linguistic relationships.
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