December 05, 2009

Y chromosome and mtDNA of Udegeys

American Journal of Physical Anthropology doi:10.1002/ajpa.21232

Genetic diversity of two haploid markers in the Udegey population from southeastern Siberia


Han-Jun Jin et al.

Abstract

The Udegeys are a small ethnic group who live along the tributaries of the Amur River Basin of southeastern Siberia in Russia. They are thought to speak a language belonging to a subdivision of the Tungusic-Manchu branch of the Altaic family. To understand the genetic features and genetic history of the Udegeys, we analyzed two haploid markers, mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), and Y-chromosomal variation, in 51 individuals (including 21 males) from the Udegey population. In general, the Udegeys' mtDNA profiles revealed similarities to Siberians and other northeastern Asian populations, although a moderate European contribution was also detected. Interestingly, pairwise values of FST and the MDS plots based on the mtDNA variation showed that the Orok and Nivkh inhabiting the very same region of the Udegey were significantly different from the Udegey, implying that they may have been isolated and undergone substantial genetic drift. The Udegeys were characterized by a high frequency (66.7%) of Y chromosome haplogroup C, indicating a close genetic relationship with Mongolians and Siberians. On the paternal side, however, very little admixture was observed between the Udegeys and Europeans. Thus, the combined haploid genetic markers of both mtDNA and the Y chromosome imply that the Udegeys are overall closest to Siberians and northeast Asians of the Altaic linguistic family, with a minor maternal contribution from the European part of the continent.

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5 comments:

Unknown said...

How could they have obtained even a "minor" maternal contribution from Europe? Might it be that they "retain" a small proportion of mtDNA that is now mostly restricted to Europe (i.e. that they share a common ancestry, now mostly obliterated)?

eurologist said...

I think these are genuine Western Eurasian mtDNA haplogroups. From the paper: 13.7% total is H11a, H5, H, T2, and U2e. There was a lot of contact between this region and Western Eurasia over the millenia; in addition the authors argue influx of Ukrainian and Russians during the past hundred years or so. Of course, people of definite European maternal origin from that time span could have been quite reliably excluded.

Anonymous said...

@ eurologist : Hello. What were the non-east-Asian y-dna haplogroups ? wouldn't it be r1a1 ?
The mtDNA hgs you mentionned were (most of them) part of the bronze-iron age samples of south Siberia in C. Keyser et al. 2009 were almost all the y-dna hgs was r1a1.

Plus, there are tracks of R1a1 deep into Siberia in autochtonous populations IIRC.

Ebizur said...

The Y-DNA haplogroups that have been resolved by the authors of the present study upon testing their sample of Udegeys (n=21) are Y*(xC-RPS4Y711, DE-YAP, K-M9), C-RPS4Y711, K-M9(xNO-M214), O2b*-SRY465(xO2b1-DXYS5Y), and O3-M122 (both with and without the L1 insertion). Western influence on the Y-DNA of the Udegey population may be represented by the cases of Y*(xC-RPS4Y711, DE-YAP, K-M9) and K-M9(xNO-M214).

Anonymous said...

@ ebizur : Thank you for the information.