Y chromosome and mtDNA study of modern Middle Eastern populations (Badro et al. 2013)

Y chromosome and mtDNA study of modern Middle Eastern populations (Badro et al. 2013)

I will just briefly comment on the occurrence of L3* mtDNA in the Near East. This is a critical haplogroup because of its age of ~70ky. If all L3* in the Near East represents African migrants, then only the M and N macrogroups appeared in Eurasia, and a good case can be made for a "late" OoA event.

On the other hand, it is quite possible that some of the L3* in the Near East does not represent recent admixture, but rather native forms of L3 with deep ancestry in the region. If that is the case, then the Near East will emerge as the origin of L3, with M, N representing Out-of-Near East-into-Eurasia founders, and the various L3*(xM, N) representing Out-of-Near East-into-Africa founders.

It is difficult to say at present what will turn out to be the case. Ancient DNA has the potential of resolving this issue, because if L3*(xM, N) in Eurasia is really recent (e.g., associated with Islamic/Arab dispersals spanning Africa and Eurasia), then it ought to be missing from the earliest genetic layers.

Also of interest the geographical distribution of Y-haplogroups; nothing much new here, but still useful as a reference:

PLoS ONE 8(1): e54616. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0054616

Y-Chromosome and mtDNA Genetics Reveal Significant Contrasts in Affinities of Modern Middle Eastern Populations with European and African Populations 

Danielle A. Badro et al.

The Middle East was a funnel of human expansion out of Africa, a staging area for the Neolithic Agricultural Revolution, and the home to some of the earliest world empires. Post LGM expansions into the region and subsequent population movements created a striking genetic mosaic with distinct sex-based genetic differentiation. While prior studies have examined the mtDNA and Y-chromosome contrast in focal populations in the Middle East, none have undertaken a broad-spectrum survey including North and sub-Saharan Africa, Europe, and Middle Eastern populations. In this study 5,174 mtDNA and 4,658 Y-chromosome samples were investigated using PCA, MDS, mean-linkage clustering, AMOVA, and Fisher exact tests of FST's, RST's, and haplogroup frequencies. Geographic differentiation in affinities of Middle Eastern populations with Africa and Europe showed distinct contrasts between mtDNA and Y-chromosome data. Specifically, Lebanon's mtDNA shows a very strong association to Europe, while Yemen shows very strong affinity with Egypt and North and East Africa. Previous Y-chromosome results showed a Levantine coastal-inland contrast marked by J1 and J2, and a very strong North African component was evident throughout the Middle East. Neither of these patterns were observed in the mtDNA. While J2 has penetrated into Europe, the pattern of Y-chromosome diversity in Lebanon does not show the widespread affinities with Europe indicated by the mtDNA data. Lastly, while each population shows evidence of connections with expansions that now define the Middle East, Africa, and Europe, many of the populations in the Middle East show distinctive mtDNA and Y-haplogroup characteristics that indicate long standing settlement with relatively little impact from and movement into other populations.

Link