title: Isolates in a corridor of migrations: a high-resolution analysis of Y-chromosome variation in Jordan.
abstract: A high-resolution, Y-chromosome analysis using 46 binary markers has been carried out in two Jordan populations, one from the metropolitan area of Amman and the other from the Dead Sea, an area geographically isolated. Comparisons with neighboring populations showed that whereas the sample from Amman did not significantly differ from their Levantine neighbors, the Dead Sea sample clearly behaved as a genetic outlier in the region. Its high R1*-M173 frequency (40%) has until now only been found in northern Cameroonian samples. This contrasts with the comparatively low presence of J representatives (9%), which is the modal clade in Middle Eastern populations, including Amman. The Dead Sea sample also showed a high presence of E3b3a-M34 lineages (31%), which is only comparable to that found in Ethiopians. Although ancient and recent ties with sub-Saharan and eastern Africans cannot be discarded, it seems that isolation, strong drift, and/or founder effects are responsible for the anomalous Y-chromosome pool of this population. These results demonstrate that, at a fine scale, the smooth, continental clines detected for several Y-chromosome markers are often disrupted by genetically divergent populations.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Genética, Facultad de Biología, Universidad de La Laguna, 38271, Tenerife, Spain.|Unidad de Investigación, Hospital Universitario N.S. de Candelaria, 38010, Tenerife, Spain.
authors.forename: Carlos
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Flores
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Genética, Facultad de Biología, Universidad de La Laguna, 38271, Tenerife, Spain.|Unidad de Investigación, Hospital Universitario N.S. de Candelaria, 38010, Tenerife, Spain.
authors.forename: Nicole
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Maca-Meyer
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Genética, Facultad de Biología, Universidad de La Laguna, 38271, Tenerife, Spain.
authors.forename: Jose M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Larruga
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Genética, Facultad de Biología, Universidad de La Laguna, 38271, Tenerife, Spain.
authors.forename: Vicente M
authors.initials: VM
authors.lastname: Cabrera
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Jordan, Amman, Jordan.
authors.forename: Naif
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Karadsheh
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Genética, Facultad de Biología, Universidad de La Laguna, 38271, Tenerife, Spain. amglez@ull.es.
authors.forename: Ana M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Gonzalez
mesh_terms: D000704:Analysis of Variance; D041322:Chromosomes, Human, Y / Q000235:genetics*; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D004641:Emigration and Immigration; D018703:Founder Effect; D005819:Genetic Markers / Q000235:genetics; D014644:Genetic Variation; D006239:Haplotypes / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D007597:Jordan; D025341:Principal Component Analysis
chemical_list: D005819:Genetic Markers