title: European population substructure: clustering of northern and southern populations.
abstract: Using a genome-wide single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) panel, we observed population structure in a diverse group of Europeans and European Americans. Under a variety of conditions and tests, there is a consistent and reproducible distinction between "northern" and "southern" European population groups: most individual participants with southern European ancestry (Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, and Greek) have >85% membership in the "southern" population; and most northern, western, eastern, and central Europeans have >90% in the "northern" population group. Ashkenazi Jewish as well as Sephardic Jewish origin also showed >85% membership in the "southern" population, consistent with a later Mediterranean origin of these ethnic groups. Based on this work, we have developed a core set of informative SNP markers that can control for this partition in European population structure in a variety of clinical and genetic studies.
authors.affiliation: Rowe Program in Human Genetics, Departments of Biological Chemistry and Medicine, University of California Davis, Davis, California, United States of America. mfseldin@ucdavis.edu
authors.forename: Michael F
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Seldin
authors.forename: Russell
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Shigeta
authors.forename: Pablo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Villoslada
authors.forename: Carlo
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Selmi
authors.forename: Jaakko
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Tuomilehto
authors.forename: Gabriel
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Silva
authors.forename: John W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Belmont
authors.forename: Lars
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Klareskog
authors.forename: Peter K
authors.initials: PK
authors.lastname: Gregersen
mesh_terms: D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000235:genetics; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D005060:Europe / Q000208:ethnology; D005787:Gene Frequency; D005819:Genetic Markers; D005828:Genetics, Population; D006801:Humans; D007585:Jews / Q000235:genetics; D043322:Lactase / Q000172:deficiency; D009518:New York; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide / Q000235:genetics; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D044465:White People / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D005819:Genetic Markers; D043322:Lactase