title: High level of male-biased Scandinavian admixture in Greenlandic Inuit shown by Y-chromosomal analysis.
abstract: We have used binary markers and microsatellites on the Y chromosome to analyse diversity in a sample of Greenlandic Inuit males. This sample contains Y chromosomes typical of those found in European populations. Because the Y chromosome has a unique and robust phylogeny of a time depth that precedes the split between European and Native American populations, it is possible to assign chromosomes in an admixed population to either continental source. On this basis, 58+/-6% of these Y chromosomes have been assigned to a European origin. The high proportion of European Y chromosomes contrasts with a complete absence of European mitochondrial DNA and indicates strongly male-biased European admixture into Inuit. Comparison of the European component of Inuit Y chromosomes with European population data suggests that they have their origins in Scandinavia. There are two potential source populations: Norse settlers from Iceland, who may have been assimilated 500 years ago, and the Danish-Norwegian colonists of the eighteenth century. Insufficient differentiation between modern Icelandic and Danish Y chromosomes means that a choice between these cannot be made on the basis of diversity analysis. However, the extreme sex bias in the admixture makes the later event more likely as the source.
authors.affiliation: Department of Genetics, University of Leicester, University Road, Leicester, LE1 7RH, UK.
authors.forename: Elena
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Bosch
authors.forename: Francesc
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Calafell
authors.forename: Zoë H
authors.initials: ZH
authors.lastname: Rosser
authors.forename: Søren
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nørby
authors.forename: Niels
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Lynnerup
authors.forename: Matthew E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Hurles
authors.forename: Mark A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Jobling
mesh_terms: D044466:Asian People / Q000235:genetics*; D041322:Chromosomes, Human, Y / Q000235:genetics*; D003718:Denmark / Q000208:ethnology; D005819:Genetic Markers / Q000235:genetics*; D006116:Greenland / Q000208:ethnology; D006239:Haplotypes / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D007055:Iceland / Q000208:ethnology; D004930:Inuit / Q000235:genetics*; D008297:Male; D018895:Microsatellite Repeats / Q000235:genetics*; D009664:Norway / Q000208:ethnology; D044465:White People / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D005819:Genetic Markers