title: Mitochondrial DNA variation of modern Tuscans supports the near eastern origin of Etruscans.
abstract: The origin of the Etruscan people has been a source of major controversy for the past 2,500 years, and several hypotheses have been proposed to explain their language and sophisticated culture, including an Aegean/Anatolian origin. To address this issue, we analyzed the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) of 322 subjects from three well-defined areas of Tuscany and compared their sequence variation with that of 55 western Eurasian populations. Interpopulation comparisons reveal that the modern population of Murlo, a small town of Etruscan origin, is characterized by an unusually high frequency (17.5%) of Near Eastern mtDNA haplogroups. Each of these haplogroups is represented by different haplotypes, thus dismissing the possibility that the genetic allocation of the Murlo people is due to drift. Other Tuscan populations do not show the same striking feature; however, overall, ~5% of mtDNA haplotypes in Tuscany are shared exclusively between Tuscans and Near Easterners and occupy terminal positions in the phylogeny. These findings support a direct and rather recent genetic input from the Near East--a scenario in agreement with the Lydian origin of Etruscans. Such a genetic contribution has been extensively diluted by admixture, but it appears that there are still locations in Tuscany, such as Murlo, where traces of its arrival are easily detectable.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Genetica e Microbiologia, Universita di Pavia, Pavia, Italy.
authors.forename: Alessandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Achilli
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Olivieri
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pala
authors.forename: Ene
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Metspalu
authors.forename: Simona
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fornarino
authors.forename: Vincenza
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Battaglia
authors.forename: Matteo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Accetturo
authors.forename: Ildus
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Kutuev
authors.forename: Elsa
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Khusnutdinova
authors.forename: Erwan
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Pennarun
authors.forename: Nicoletta
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Cerutti
authors.forename: Cornelia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Di Gaetano
authors.forename: Francesca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Crobu
authors.forename: Domenico
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Palli
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Matullo
authors.forename: A Silvana
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Santachiara-Benerecetti
authors.forename: L Luca
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Cavalli-Sforza
authors.forename: Ornella
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Semino
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Villems
authors.forename: Hans-Jurgen
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Bandelt
authors.forename: Alberto
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Piazza
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Torroni
mesh_terms: D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial / Q000235:genetics*; D003710:Demography; D005006:Ethnicity / Q000235:genetics*; D005787:Gene Frequency; D014644:Genetic Variation; D005828:Genetics, Population; D006239:Haplotypes / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy; D008877:Middle East; D010802:Phylogeny; D025341:Principal Component Analysis
chemical_list: D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial