title: Y-chromosome and mtDNA polymorphisms in Iraq, a crossroad of the early human dispersal and of post-Neolithic migrations.
abstract: Analyses of mtDNA and Y-chromosome variation were performed in a sample of Iraqis, a scarcely investigated population of the "Fertile Crescent." A total of 216 mtDNAs were screened for the diagnostic RFLP markers of the main Eurasian and African haplogroups. A subset of these samples, whose HVS-I sequences were previously obtained, was also examined by high-resolution restriction analysis. The Y-chromosome variation was investigated in 139 subjects by using 17 biallelic markers and the 49a,f/Taq I system. For both uniparental systems, the large majority of the haplogroups observed in the Iraqi population are those (H, J, T, and U for the mtDNA, and J(xM172) and J-M172 for the Y chromosome) considered to have originated in the Middle East and to have later spread all over Western Eurasia. However, about 9% of the mtDNAs and 30% of the Y-chromosomes most likely represent arrivals from distant geographic regions. The different proportion of long-range genetic input observed for the mtDNA and the Y chromosome appears to indicate that events of gene flow to this area might have involved mainly males rather than females.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Genetica e Microbiologia A. Buzzati Traverso, Università di Pavia, Via Ferrata, 1, 27100 Pavia, Italy.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Al-Zahery
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Semino
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Benuzzi
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Magri
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Passarino
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Torroni
authors.forename: A S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Santachiara-Benerecetti
mesh_terms: D041322:Chromosomes, Human, Y / Q000235:genetics*; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial / Q000235:genetics*; D005843:Geography; D006239:Haplotypes / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D007493:Iraq; D008297:Male; D010802:Phylogeny; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D012150:Polymorphism, Restriction Fragment Length; D011157:Population Dynamics; D025341:Principal Component Analysis
chemical_list: D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial