Historical Sketch of Slovak Haban (Hutterite) Population Based on Autosomal STR Analysis

According to the Hutterite chronicles, the Habans arrived from Austrian Tyrol, Switzerland, and northernmost Italy and stayed in four regions of Slovakia (Sobotište, Vel\u27ké Leváre, Moravský Svätý Ján, Trenčín). There are some communities in western Slovakia that retained their Haban cultural identity and still identify themselves as descendents of the Hutterite population with their own specific customs. Slovak Habans are typical founder population with significant social isolation for which high degree of inbreeding is typical. Present study investigated STR polymorphisms as a powerful genetic tool for population genetic studies. The aim was to perform a comparative, population genetic study based on 15 STR loci widely used in forensic genetics, of the Haban population, the Slovak majority population and the population of Tyrol. We analyzed allele frequencies and other statistical parameters in three selected populations in order to identify groups of specific ethnic origin and establish their genetic relationship. The data set included 110 unrelated Habans and 201 unrelated individuals from the Slovak majority population, as well as allelic frequencies for the population of Austrian Tyrol available in the literature. Population pairwise FST values used as a short term genetic distance between populations showed significant differentiation between the Habans and both reference populations (FST = 0.0025 and 0.0042 for comparison with the Slovaks and Austrians, respectively; p \u3c 10−3). The Slovak Hutterites were demonstrated to be genetically distinct and more closely related to their geographic neighbors than to their historical ancestral population, which may be at least partially explained by gene flow between neighboring Haban and Slovak populations

ПОЛИМОРФИЗМ МИКРОСАТЕЛЛИТНЫХ ЛОКУСОВ X-ХРОМОСОМЫ ЭТНИЧЕСКИХ БЕЛОРУСОВ В КОНТЕКСТЕ СУДЕБНО-ЭКСПЕРТНОЙ ИДЕНТИФИКАЦИИ ЛИЧНОСТИ

This is the first extensive study of the X-chromosome polymorphism of ethnic Belarusians in a set of 360 male and 423 female samples (783 samples, 1206 chromosomes in total) from 11 regions of Belarus. The study involved 19 STR-loci: DXS10135, DXS8378, DXS10148, DXS7132, DXS10074, DXS10079, DXS10075, HPRTB, DXS10101, DXS10103, DXS10134, DXS7423, DXS10146, DXS8377, DXS10147, DXS9895, DXS7424, DXS7133, and GATA172D05. The frequencies of the alleles have been determined, and the tables of allele frequencies for the pooled Belarusian population sample have been composed.Проведено первое обширное исследование полиморфизма X-хромосомы этнических белорусов в массиве 360 мужских и 423 женских образцов (всего 783 образца, 1206 хромосом) из 11 регионов Беларуси. В исследовании задействованы 19 STR-локусов: DXS10135, DXS8378, DXS10148, DXS7132, DXS10074, DXS10079, DXS10075, HPRTB, DXS10101, DXS10103, DXS10134, DXS7423, DXS10146, DXS8377, DXS10147, DXS9895, DXS7424, DXS7133 и GATA172D05. Определены частоты встречаемости аллелей, приведены таблицы частот аллелей для суммарного смешанного массива образцов

Y-chromosome diversity in Catalan surname samples: insights into surname origin and frequency

The biological behavior of the Y chromosome, which is paternally inherited, implies that males sharing the same surname may also share a similar Y chromosome. However, socio-cultural factors, such as polyphyletism, non-paternity, adoption, or matrilineal surname transmission, may prevent the joint transmission of the surname and the Y chromosome. By genotyping 17 Y-STRs and 68 SNPs in ~2500 male samples that each carried one of the 50 selected Catalan surnames, we could determine sets of descendants of a common ancestor, the population of origin of the common ancestor, and the date when such a common ancestor lived. Haplotype diversity was positively correlated with surname frequency, that is, rarer surnames showed the strongest signals of coancestry. Introgression rates of Y chromosomes into a surname by non-paternity, adoption, and transmission of the maternal surname were estimated at 1.5−2.6% per generation, with some local variation. Average ages for the founders of the surnames were estimated at ~500 years, suggesting a delay between the origin of surnames (twelfth and thirteenth centuries) and the systematization of their paternal transmission. We have found that, in general, a foreign etymology for a surname does not often result in a non-indigenous origin of surname founders; however, bearers of some surnames with an Arabic etymology show an excess of North African haplotypes. Finally, we estimate that surname prediction from a Y-chromosome haplotype, which may have interesting forensic applications, has a ~60% sensitivity but a 17% false discovery rate.Funding was provided by the Institut d’Estudis Catalans and by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Innovation (grant CGL2013-44351-P).Peer reviewe

Whole Y-chromosome sequences reveal an extremely recent origin of the most common North African paternal lineage E-M183 (M81)

E-M183 (E-M81) is the most frequent paternal lineage in North Africa and thus it must be considered to explore past historical and demographical processes. Here, by using whole Y chromosome sequences from 32 North African individuals, we have identified five new branches within E-M183. The validation of these variants in more than 200 North African samples, from which we also have information of 13 Y-STRs, has revealed a strong resemblance among E-M183 Y-STR haplotypes that pointed to a rapid expansion of this haplogroup. Moreover, for the first time, by using both SNP and STR data, we have provided updated estimates of the times-to-the-most-recent-common-ancestor (TMRCA) for E-M183, which evidenced an extremely recent origin of this haplogroup (2,000-3,000 ya). Our results also showed a lack of population structure within the E-M183 branch, which could be explained by the recent and rapid expansion of this haplogroup. In spite of a reduction in STR heterozygosity towards the West, which would point to an origin in the Near East, ancient DNA evidence together with our TMRCA estimates point to a local origin of E-M183 in NW Africa.Funding was provided by the Agencia Estatal de Investigación and Fondo Europeo de Desarollo Regional (FEDER) (grant CGL2016-75389-P), and by Agència de Gestió d’Ajuts Universitaris i de la Recerca (Generalitat de Catalunya) grant 2014 SGR 866. NS is supported by a Formació de personal Investigador (FI) fellowship from Generalitat de Catalunya (FI_B00685