title: The evidence of mtDNA haplogroup F in a European population and its ethnohistoric implications.
abstract: Mitochondrial DNA polymorphism was analysed in a sample of 108 Croatians from the Adriatic Island isolate of Hvar. Besides typically European varieties of human maternal lineages, haplogroup F was found in a considerable frequency (8.3%). This haplogroup is most frequent in southeast Asia but has not been reported before in Europe. The genealogical analysis of haplogroup F cases from Hvar suggested founder effect. Subsequent field work was undertaken to sample and analyse 336 persons from three neighbouring islands (Brac, Korcula and Krk) and 379 more persons from all Croatian mainland counties and to determine if haplogroup F is present in the general population. Only one more case was found in one of the mainland cities, with no known ancestors from Hvar Island. The first published phylogenetic analysis of haplogroup F worldwide is presented, applying the median network method, suggesting several scenarios how this maternal lineage may have been added to the Croatian mtDNA pool.
authors.affiliation: Department of Evolutionary Biology, Institute for Molecular and Cell Biology, University of Tartu, Riia 23, 51010 Tartu, Estonia.
authors.forename: H V
authors.initials: HV
authors.lastname: Tolk
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Barac
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pericic
authors.forename: I M
authors.initials: IM
authors.lastname: Klaric
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Janicijevic
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Campbell
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Rudan
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kivisild
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Villems
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Rudan
mesh_terms: D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*; D005060:Europe / Q000208:ethnology; D005192:Family Health; D005260:Female; D005828:Genetics, Population; D005843:Geography; D006239:Haplotypes / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010375:Pedigree; D010802:Phylogeny; D012150:Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
chemical_list: D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial