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Research Papers

Y-chromosome variation in Tajiks and Iranians

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Pages 48-54 | Received 16 Apr 2012, Accepted 05 Nov 2012, Published online: 30 Nov 2012
 

Abstract

Aim: The purpose of this study was to characterize Y-chromosome diversity in Tajiks from Tajikistan and in Persians and Kurds from Iran.

Method: Y-chromosome haplotypes were identified in 40 Tajiks, 77 Persians and 25 Kurds, using 12 short tandem repeats (STR) and 18 binary markers.

Results: High genetic diversity was observed in the populations studied. Six of 12 haplogroups were common in Persians, Kurds and Tajiks, but only three haplogroups (G-M201, J-12f2 and L-M20) were the most frequent in all populations, comprising together ∼ 60% of the Y-chromosomes in the pooled data set. Analysis of genetic distances between Y-STR haplotypes revealed that the Kurds showed a great distance to the Iranian-speaking populations of Iran, Afghanistan and Tajikistan. The presence of Indian-specific haplogroups L-M20, H1-M52 and R2a-M124 in both Tajik samples from Afghanistan and Tajikistan demonstrates an apparent genetic affinity between Tajiks from these two regions.

Conclusions: Despite the marked similarities between Y-chromosome gene pools of Iranian-speaking populations, there are differences between them, defined by many factors, including geographic and linguistic relationships.

Acknowledgements

BM and MD were responsible for the data analyses, interpretation of the results and writing the manuscript. MW and TG were involved in the interpretation of the results and in the editing of the manuscript. All authors were involved in genetic data collection. We are grateful to all the voluntary donors of DNA samples used in this study. We would like to thank Professor I. A. Zakharov, Drs M. R. Nassiri, M. R. M. Abadi and D. Rostamzadeh for providing the samples.

Declaration of interest: Supported by the Program of Presidium of Russian Academy of Sciences ‘Biodiversity and Gene Pools’ (12-I-P30-12) and the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (11-04-00620). The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.

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