The emergence of Y-chromosome haplogroup J1e among Arabic-speaking populations.
Haplogroup J1 is a prevalent Y-chromosome lineage within the Near East. We report the frequency and YSTR diversity data for its major sub-clade (J1e). The overall expansion time estimated from 453 chromosomes is 10,000 years. Moreover, the previously described J1 (DYS388=13) chromosomes, frequently found in the Caucasus and eastern Anatolian populations, were ancestral to J1e and displayed an expansion time of 9000 years. For J1e, the Zagros/Taurus mountain region displays the highest haplotype diversity, although the J1e frequency increases toward the peripheral Arabian Peninsula. The southerly pattern of decreasing expansion time estimates is consistent with the serial drift and founder effect processes. The first such migration is predicted to have occurred at the onset of the Neolithic, and accordingly J1e parallels the establishment of rain-fed agriculture and semi-nomadic herders throughout the Fertile Crescent. Subsequently, J1e lineages might have been involved in episodes of the expansion of pastoralists into arid habitats coinciding with the spread of Arabic and other Semitic-speaking populations.
Chiaroni
Jacques
J
UMR6578 (Université de la Méditerranée, CNRS, EFS) Anthropologie bio-culturelle, Faculté de médecine de Marseille, Marseille, France. jacques.chiaroni@efs.sante.fr
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RJ
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Natalie M
NM
Henn
Brenna M
BM
Ducourneau
Axel
A
Mitchell
Michael J
MJ
Boetsch
Gilles
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Sheikha
Issa
I
Lin
Alice A
AA
Nik-Ahd
Mahnoosh
M
Ahmad
Jabeen
J
Lattanzi
Francesca
F
Herrera
Rene J
RJ
Ibrahim
Muntaser E
ME
Brody
Aaron
A
Semino
Ornella
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Kivisild
Toomas
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Underhill
Peter A
PA
D018912:Arabs / Q000235:genetics*; D041322:Chromosomes, Human, Y / Q000235:genetics*; D005006:Ethnicity / Q000235:genetics*; D056426:Genetic Loci / Q000235:genetics; D005828:Genetics, Population; D005843:Geography; D006239:Haplotypes / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D018895:Microsatellite Repeats / Q000235:genetics