title: Genetic affinity between diverse ethnoreligious communities of Tamil Nadu, India: a microsatellite study.
abstract: Historically, a number of local Hindu caste groups have converted to Islam and formed religious endogamous groups. Therefore the local caste groups and religious communities in a region are expected to show genetic relatedness. In this study we investigate the genetic relationship between Tamil-speaking (Dravidian language) Muslims (Sunni), six endogamous Hindu castes, and a tribal ethnic group (Irulars) using 13 CODIS (Combined DNA Index System) autosomal microsatellite markers. Muslims show the highest average heterozygosity (0.405) compared to the other groups. The neighbor-joining tree and the multidimensional-scaling plot show clustering of Tamil-speaking Muslims with three caste groups (Gounder, Paraiyar, and Vanniyar), whereas the Irular tribe is separated out of the cluster.
authors.affiliation: National DNA Analysis Center, Directorate of Forensic Science, Central Forensic Science Laboratory, 30 Gorachand Road, Kolkata 700 014, India.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Eaaswarkhanth
authors.forename: T S
authors.initials: TS
authors.lastname: Vasulu
authors.forename: Ikramul
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Haque
mesh_terms: D000483:Alleles; D005006:Ethnicity / Q000235:genetics*; D014644:Genetic Variation; D005828:Genetics, Population; D005838:Genotype; D005843:Geography; D018596:Hinduism; D006801:Humans; D007194:India / Q000208:ethnology; D007514:Islam; D018895:Microsatellite Repeats; D010802:Phylogeny; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction