Ancient mtDNA from Krasnoyarsk Siberians

This is a short paper; there are no new Y chromosome results, the old ones were reported here. In the current paper:

Moreover, these SNP analyses allowed us to obtain additional information regarding haplotype assignment: two samples, initially classified as belonging to haplogroup H, were found to belong to H6 and H5a, respectively. Three other samples sharing a haplotype identical with the CRS or previously classified as H were found to belong to haplogroup U.

With respect to the haplogroup U mtDNA, they were not able to assign it to a sub-haplogroup, but:

it would be necessary to design new SNPs to determine to which sub-haplogroup within haplogroup U they belong, knowing that it can not be haplogroup U2, U4 and U5a, already tested in our SNapShot assay.

Haplogroup H6 is fairly old in Central Asia (Loogvali et al. 2004, Mol. Biol. Evol. 21(11):2012–2021. 2004), so the authors focus on H5a which they link with a European origin, as suggested by Pereira et al. 2005 (http://www.genome.org/cgi/doi/10.1101/
gr.3182305). The authors mention that:

This subclade is distributed at low levels across Europe and is absent from the Caucasus and the Near East, suggesting a European origin as reported by Pereira et al. [2].

Roostalu et al. (2006) Mol. Biol. Evol. 24(2):436–448. 2007 lists several West Asian populations, although it would be interesting to see a wider sampling.

H5a occurs in Russians at a frequency of 1.8%, which is lower than Romania (7.8%), and Poland (13.2%), Czech Republic (3.2%) (Pereira et al. 2008), Slovakia (4.3%, Malyarchuck et al. 2008, doi: 10.1111/j.1469-1809.2007.00410.x), and the Balkans (10% of H which occurs at a frequency of 45% = 4.5%, Loogvali et al. 2004, Balkans=Croats+Albanians+Greeks) vs. Eastern Slavs (7/165 of H, i.e., 4.2% of H, which occurs at a frequency of 40% = 1.7%, Loogvali et al. 2004, Eastern Slavs = Russians and Ukrainians).

In conclusion, a European origin of H5a in Krasnoyarsk Siberians is consistent with its higher frequency in many European populations compared to Central Asians and Altaians (Loogvali et al. 2004); however, the higher frequency does not occur in Russia and the Ukraine, but further west, in the Balkans and Central Europe.

Forensic Science International: Genetics Supplement Series doi:10.1016/j.fsigss.2007.10.133

Tracing back ancient south Siberian population history using mitochondrial and Y-chromosome SNPs

Christine Keyser et al.

Abstract

Southern Siberian populations have been the subject of intense works attempting to shed light on the peopling of Siberia. From these works, it appeared that south Siberian populations are the reflect of the complex interactions that occurred at different times between Eastern and Western Eurasian people. According to paleoantropological and modern molecular data, European populations predominated in south Siberia during the Bronze age whereas Asian component began to increase from the Iron age. To test this hypothesis we determined the mitochondrial and Y-chromosomal haplotypes and haplogroups of 29 ancient specimens from the Krasnoyarsk area (Southern Central Siberia) dating from the Bronze and Iron ages. The data obtained supported the hypothesis of the prevalence of Western Eurasian component in Southern Central Siberia in the Bronze age. Moreover, they allowed us to propose a geographic origin of the Krasnoyarsk population during this period.

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