title: The peopling of modern Bosnia-Herzegovina: Y-chromosome haplogroups in the three main ethnic groups.
abstract: The variation at 28 Y-chromosome biallelic markers was analysed in 256 males (90 Croats, 81 Serbs and 85 Bosniacs) from Bosnia-Herzegovina. An important shared feature between the three ethnic groups is the high frequency of the "Palaeolithic" European-specific haplogroup (Hg) I, a likely signature of a Balkan population re-expansion after the Last Glacial Maximum. This haplogroup is almost completely represented by the sub-haplogroup I-P37 whose frequency is, however, higher in the Croats (approximately 71%) than in Bosniacs (approximately 44%) and Serbs (approximately 31%). Other rather frequent haplogroups are E (approximately 15%) and J (approximately 7%), which are considered to have arrived from the Middle East in Neolithic and post-Neolithic times, and R-M17 (approximately 14%), which probably marked several arrivals, at different times, from eastern Eurasia. Hg E, almost exclusively represented by its subclade E-M78, is more common in the Serbs (approximately 20%) than in Bosniacs (approximately 13%) and Croats (approximately 9%), and Hg J, observed in only one Croat, encompasses approximately 9% of the Serbs and approximately 12% of the Bosniacs, where it shows its highest diversification. By contrast, Hg R-M17 displays similar frequencies in all three groups. On the whole, the three main groups of Bosnia-Herzegovina, in spite of some quantitative differences, share a large fraction of the same ancient gene pool distinctive for the Balkan area.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, University of Sarajevo, Kemalbegova 10, 71.000 Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. damirm.marjanovic@ingeb.ba
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Marjanovic
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fornarino
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Montagna
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Primorac
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Hadziselimovic
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Vidovic
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Pojskic
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Battaglia
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Achilli
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Drobnic
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Andjelinovic
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Torroni
authors.forename: A S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Santachiara-Benerecetti
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Semino
mesh_terms: D017522:Bosnia and Herzegovina / Q000208:ethnology*; D041322:Chromosomes, Human, Y; D017931:DNA Primers; D005006:Ethnicity / Q000235:genetics*; D005788:Gene Pool; D006239:Haplotypes; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male
chemical_list: D017931:DNA Primers