title: The Eurasian heartland: a continental perspective on Y-chromosome diversity.
abstract: The nonrecombining portion of the human Y chromosome has proven to be a valuable tool for the study of population history. The maintenance of extended haplotypes characteristic of particular geographic regions, despite extensive admixture, allows complex demographic events to be deconstructed. In this study we report the frequencies of 23 Y-chromosome biallelic polymorphism haplotypes in 1,935 men from 49 Eurasian populations, with a particular focus on Central Asia. These haplotypes reveal traces of historical migrations, and provide an insight into the earliest patterns of settlement of anatomically modern humans on the Eurasian continent. Central Asia is revealed to be an important reservoir of genetic diversity, and the source of at least three major waves of migration leading into Europe, the Americas, and India. The genetic results are interpreted in the context of Eurasian linguistic patterns.
authors.affiliation: Imperial Cancer Research Fund Cancer and Immunogenetics Laboratory and Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics, University of Oxford, Headington OX3 9DS, United Kingdom. rswells@well.ox.ac.uk
authors.forename: R S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Wells
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Yuldasheva
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ruzibakiev
authors.forename: P A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Underhill
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Evseeva
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Blue-Smith
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Jin
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Su
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Pitchappan
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Shanmugalakshmi
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Balakrishnan
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Read
authors.forename: N M
authors.initials: NM
authors.lastname: Pearson
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Zerjal
authors.forename: M T
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Webster
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Zholoshvili
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Jamarjashvili
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gambarov
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Nikbin
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Dostiev
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Aknazarov
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Zalloua
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Tsoy
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kitaev
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mirrakhimov
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Chariev
authors.forename: W F
authors.initials: WF
authors.lastname: Bodmer
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000483:Alleles; D001208:Asia; D005075:Biological Evolution; D005060:Europe; D014644:Genetic Variation; D005828:Genetics, Population; D006239:Haplotypes; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D014998:Y Chromosome / Q000235:genetics*