title: Ethnogenomic diversity of Caucasus, Daghestan.
abstract: Autosomal short-tandem repeats (STRs) were typed in ethnic populations of Kubachians, Dargins, Avars, Lezgins, Kumiks, and Nogais of the Caucasus (Daghestan, Russia) at the University of Utah. Daghestan ethnic populations demonstrated differences in STR allele frequency distributions, but these differences were much lower among these ethnic groups compared to worldwide ethnic groups. The observed genetic diversity was low while F(ST) values were high, both of which provided supporting evidence for small population sizes and high levels of isolation among the ethnic groups. An analysis of genetic distance from the three major continents, encompassing Daghestan populations and groups, reveals three distinct clusters: all populations of African affiliation, European and Daghestan populations except the Nogais, and Asian populations with ethnic Nogais.
authors.affiliation: N.I. Vavilov Institute of General Genetics, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow 117991, Russia. bulaeva@vigg.ru
authors.forename: K B
authors.initials: KB
authors.lastname: Bulayeva
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Jorde
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Watkins
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ostler
authors.forename: T A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Pavlova
authors.forename: O A
authors.initials: OA
authors.lastname: Bulayev
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tofanelli
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Paoli
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Harpending
mesh_terms: D003610:Dagestan / Q000208:ethnology; D005006:Ethnicity / Q000235:genetics*; D005260:Female; D014644:Genetic Variation; D005828:Genetics, Population / Q000379:methods; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D020080:Tandem Repeat Sequences / Q000235:genetics*