title: Boundaries and clines in the West Eurasian Y-chromosome landscape: insights from the European part of Russia.
abstract: Previous studies of Y chromosome variation have revealed that western Europe, the Volga-Ural region, and the Caucasus differ dramatically with respect to Y-SNP haplogroup composition. The European part of Russia is situated in between these three regions; to determine if these differences reflect clines or boundaries in the Y-chromosome landscape, we analyzed 12 Y-SNPs in 545 males from 12 populations from the European part of Russia. The majority of Russian Y chromosomes (from 74% to 94%) belong to three Y chromosomal lineages [I-M170, R1a1-M17, and N3-TAT] that are also frequent in the rest of east Europe, north Europe, and/or in the Volga-Ural region. We find significant but low correlations between haplogroup frequencies and the geographic location of populations, suggesting gradual change in the Y chromosome gene pool across western Eurasia. However, we also find some significant boundaries between populations, suggesting that both isolation and migration have influenced the Y chromosome landscape.
authors.affiliation: Department of Evolutionary Genetics, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, D-04103 Leipzig, Germany.
authors.forename: Angela
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fechner
authors.forename: Dominique
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Quinque
authors.forename: Sergey
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Rychkov
authors.forename: Irina
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Morozowa
authors.forename: Oksana
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Naumova
authors.forename: Yuriy
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Schneider
authors.forename: Sascha
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Willuweit
authors.forename: Olga
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Zhukova
authors.forename: Lutz
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Roewer
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Stoneking
authors.forename: Ivan
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Nasidze
mesh_terms: D041322:Chromosomes, Human, Y / Q000235:genetics*; D018740:Genetic Heterogeneity; D014644:Genetic Variation; D005828:Genetics, Population; D006239:Haplotypes; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D012426:Russia; D044465:White People / Q000235:genetics*