Y-Chromosome Variation in Altaian Kazakhs Reveals a Common Paternal Gene Pool for Kazakhs and the Influence of Mongolian Expansions

Kazakh populations have traditionally lived as nomadic pastoralists that seasonally migrate across the steppe and surrounding mountain ranges in Kazakhstan and southern Siberia. To clarify their population history from a paternal perspective, we analyzed the non-recombining portion of the Y-chromosome from Kazakh populations living in southern Altai Republic, Russia, using a high-resolution analysis of 60 biallelic markers and 17 STRs. We noted distinct differences in the patterns of genetic variation between maternal and paternal genetic systems in the Altaian Kazakhs. While they possess a variety of East and West Eurasian mtDNA haplogroups, only three East Eurasian paternal haplogroups appear at significant frequencies (C3*, C3c and O3a3c*). In addition, the Y-STR data revealed low genetic diversity within these lineages. Analysis of the combined biallelic and STR data also demonstrated genetic differences among Kazakh populations from across Central Asia. The observed differences between Altaian Kazakhs and indigenous Kazakhs were not the result of admixture between Altaian Kazakhs and indigenous Altaians. Overall, the shared paternal ancestry of Kazakhs differentiates them from other Central Asian populations. In addition, all of them showed evidence of genetic influence by the 13th century CE Mongol Empire. Ultimately, the social and cultural traditions of the Kazakhs shaped their current pattern of genetic variation

Russian Old Believers: Genetic Consequences of Their Persecution and Exile, as Shown by Mitochondrial DNA Evidence

In 1653, the Patriarch Nikon modified liturgical practices to bring the Russian Orthodox Church in line with those of the Eastern (Greek) Orthodox Church, from which it had split 200 years earlier. The Old Believers (staroveri) rejected these changes and continued to worship using the earlier practices. These actions resulted in their persecution by the Russian Orthodox Church, which forced them into exile across Siberia. Given their history, we investigate whether populations of Old Believers have diverged genetically from other Slavic populations as a result of their isolation. We also examine whether the three Old Believer populations analyzed in this study are part of a single gene pool (founder population) or are instead derived from heterogeneous sources. As part of this analysis, we survey the mitochondrial DNAs (mtDNAs) of 189 Russian Old Believer individuals from three populations in Siberia and 201 ethnic Russians from different parts of Siberia for phylogenetically informative mutations in the coding and noncoding regions. Our results indicate that the Old Believers have not significantly diverged genetically from other Slavic populations over the 200-300 years of their isolation in Siberia. However, they do show some unique patterns of mtDNA variation relative to other Slavic groups, such as a high frequency of subhaplogroup U4, a surprisingly low frequency of haplogroup H, and low frequencies of the rare East Eurasian subhaplogroup D5

Visual Laterality of Calf–Mother Interactions in Wild Whales

Behavioral laterality is known for a variety of vertebrate and invertebrate animals. Laterality in social interactions has been described for a wide range of species including humans. Although evidence and theoretical predictions indicate that in social species the degree of population level laterality is greater than in solitary ones, the origin of these unilateral biases is not fully understood. It is especially poorly studied in the wild animals. Little is known about the role, which laterality in social interactions plays in natural populations. A number of brain characteristics make cetaceans most suitable for investigation of lateralization in social contacts.) in the greatest breeding aggregation in the White Sea. Here we show that young calves (in 29 individually identified and in over a hundred of individually not recognized mother-calf pairs) swim and rest significantly longer on a mother's right side. Further observations along with the data from other cetaceans indicate that found laterality is a result of the calves' preference to observe their mothers with the left eye, i.e., to analyze the information on a socially significant object in the right brain hemisphere.Data from our and previous work on cetacean laterality suggest that basic brain lateralizations are expressed in the same way in cetaceans and other vertebrates. While the information on social partners and novel objects is analyzed in the right brain hemisphere, the control of feeding behavior is performed by the left brain hemisphere. Continuous unilateral visual contacts of calves to mothers with the left eye may influence social development of the young by activation of the contralateral (right) brain hemisphere, indicating a possible mechanism on how behavioral lateralization may influence species life and welfare. This hypothesis is supported by evidence from other vertebrates

Влияние ферментозаместительной терапии на обструкцию верхних дыхательных путей у детей с мукополисахаридозами: ретроспективное когортное исследование

Background. Data on the efficacy of enzyme replacement therapy (ERT) in relation to the pathology of ENT organs and respiratory performance in sleep in children with mucopolysaccharidosis (MPS) is poorly presented in the literature. Our aim was to assess the effect of ERT on the upper respiratory tract in children with MPS. Methods. According to the case histories, we studied treatment results of children with MPS type I and II who received ERT in the Research Center of Children’s Health from January 2007 to November 2016. The severity of upper airway obstruction and its change during ERT was assessed according to indices of apnea-hypopnea and desaturation (SpO2), average/minimal SpO2, duration of SpO2 episodes < 90%, and hypertrophy degree of palatine tonsils and adenoids. Results. The severity of the obstructive sleep apnea syndrome did not progress in children (n = 15) with MPS against the background of ERT with a median duration of 38 (23; 48) months: initially, the apnea-hypopnea index was 3 (1.3; 7.7), while the repeated study — 2.6 (0.9; 13.5) (p = 0.507). There was also no statistically significant change in cardiorespiratory monitoring values. Conclusion. Long-term ERT in children with MPS type I and II interferes with the progression of airway obstruction.Обоснование. Данные об эффективности ферментозаместительной терапии (ФЗТ) в отношении патологии ЛОР- органов и показателей дыхания во сне у детей с мукополисахаридозом (МПС) в литературе представлены скудно.Цель исследования — оценить влияние ФЗТ на состояние верхних дыхательных путей у детей с МПС.Методы. По историям болезни изучали результаты лечения детей с МПС I и II типов, получавших ФЗТ в Научном центре здоровья детей (ныне ФГАУ «НМИЦ здоровья детей» Минздрава России) с января 2007 по ноябрь 2016 г. Выраженность обструкции верхних дыхательных путей и ее изменение на фоне ФЗТ оценивали по индексам апноэ-гипопноэ и десатурации (SpO2), средней/минимальной SpO2, продолжительности эпизодов SpO2< 90% и степени гипертрофии небных миндалин и аденоидов.Результаты. У детей (n=15) с МПС на фоне ФЗТ продолжительностью (медиана) 38 (23; 48) мес тяжесть синдрома обструктивного апноэ сна не прогрессировала: исходно индекс апноэ-гипопноэ составил 3 (1,3; 7,7), при повторном исследовании — 2,6 (0,9; 13,5) (р=0,507). Также не установлено статистически значимого изменения показателей кардиореспираторного мониторинга.Заключение. Длительная ФЗТ у детей с МПС I и II типов препятствует прогрессированию обструкции дыхательных путей.КОНФЛИКТ ИНТЕРЕСОВ Л.С. Намазова-Баранова — получение исследовательских грантов от фармацевтических компаний Пьер Фабр, Genzyme Europe B. V., ООО «Астра зенека Фармасьютикалз», Gilead / PRA «Фармасьютикал Рисерч Ассошиэйтс СиАйЭс», Bionorica, Teva Branded Pharmaceutical products R&D, Inc / ООО «ППД Девелопмент (Смоленск)», «Сталлержен С. А.» / «Квинтайлс ГезмбХ» (Австрия). Л.М. Кузенкова, А.К. Геворкян, Т.В. Подклетнова, Н.Д. Вашакмадзе читают лекции для компаний «Санофи Джензайм», «Шайер», «Биомарин». Остальные авторы подтвердили отсутствие конфликта интересов, о котором необходимо сообщить

Reconstructing Native American Population History

The peopling of the Americas has been the subject of extensive genetic, archaeological and linguistic research; however, central questions remain unresolved1–5. One contentious issue is whether the settlement occurred via a single6–8 or multiple streams of migration from Siberia9–15. The pattern of dispersals within the Americas is also poorly understood. To address these questions at higher resolution than was previously possible, we assembled data from 52 Native American and 17 Siberian groups genotyped at 364,470 single nucleotide polymorphisms. We show that Native Americans descend from at least three streams of Asian gene flow. Most descend entirely from a single ancestral population that we call “First American”. However, speakers of Eskimo-Aleut languages from the Arctic inherit almost half their ancestry from a second stream of Asian gene flow, and the Na-Dene-speaking Chipewyan from Canada inherit roughly one-tenth of their ancestry from a third stream. We show that the initial peopling followed a southward expansion facilitated by the coast, with sequential population splits and little gene flow after divergence, especially in South America. A major exception is in Chibchan-speakers on both sides of the Panama Isthmus, who have ancestry from both North and South America

Genes reveal traces of common recent demographic history for most of the Uralic-speaking populations

Background: The genetic origins of Uralic speakers from across a vast territory in the temperate zone of North Eurasia have remained elusive. Previous studies have shown contrasting proportions of Eastern and Western Eurasian ancestry in their mitochondrial and Y chromosomal gene pools. While the maternal lineages reflect by and large the geographic background of a given Uralic-speaking population, the frequency of Y chromosomes of Eastern Eurasian origin is distinctively high among European Uralic speakers. The autosomal variation of Uralic speakers, however, has not yet been studied comprehensively.Results: Here, we present a genome-wide analysis of 15 Uralic-speaking populations which cover all main groups of the linguistic family. We show that contemporary Uralic speakers are genetically very similar to their local geographical neighbours. However, when studying relationships among geographically distant populations, we find that most of the Uralic speakers and some of their neighbours share a genetic component of possibly Siberian origin. Additionally, we show that most Uralic speakers share significantly more genomic segments identity-by-descent with each other than with geographically equidistant speakers of other languages. We find that correlated genome-wide genetic and lexical distances among Uralic speakers suggest co-dispersion of genes and languages. Yet, we do not find long-range genetic ties between Estonians and Hungarians with their linguistic sisters that would distinguish them from their non-Uralic-speaking neighbours.Conclusions: We show that most Uralic speakers share a distinct ancestry component of likely Siberian origin, which suggests that the spread of Uralic languages involved at least some demic component

Genes reveal traces of common recent demographic history for most of the Uralic-speaking populations.

BACKGROUND: The genetic origins of Uralic speakers from across a vast territory in the temperate zone of North Eurasia have remained elusive. Previous studies have shown contrasting proportions of Eastern and Western Eurasian ancestry in their mitochondrial and Y chromosomal gene pools. While the maternal lineages reflect by and large the geographic background of a given Uralic-speaking population, the frequency of Y chromosomes of Eastern Eurasian origin is distinctively high among European Uralic speakers. The autosomal variation of Uralic speakers, however, has not yet been studied comprehensively. RESULTS: Here, we present a genome-wide analysis of 15 Uralic-speaking populations which cover all main groups of the linguistic family. We show that contemporary Uralic speakers are genetically very similar to their local geographical neighbours. However, when studying relationships among geographically distant populations, we find that most of the Uralic speakers and some of their neighbours share a genetic component of possibly Siberian origin. Additionally, we show that most Uralic speakers share significantly more genomic segments identity-by-descent with each other than with geographically equidistant speakers of other languages. We find that correlated genome-wide genetic and lexical distances among Uralic speakers suggest co-dispersion of genes and languages. Yet, we do not find long-range genetic ties between Estonians and Hungarians with their linguistic sisters that would distinguish them from their non-Uralic-speaking neighbours. CONCLUSIONS: We show that most Uralic speakers share a distinct ancestry component of likely Siberian origin, which suggests that the spread of Uralic languages involved at least some demic component