title: The phylogeography of Y-chromosome haplogroup h1a1a-m82 reveals the likely Indian origin of the European Romani populations.
abstract: Linguistic and genetic studies on Roma populations inhabited in Europe have unequivocally traced these populations to the Indian subcontinent. However, the exact parental population group and time of the out-of-India dispersal have remained disputed. In the absence of archaeological records and with only scanty historical documentation of the Roma, comparative linguistic studies were the first to identify their Indian origin. Recently, molecular studies on the basis of disease-causing mutations and haploid DNA markers (i.e. mtDNA and Y-chromosome) supported the linguistic view. The presence of Indian-specific Y-chromosome haplogroup H1a1a-M82 and mtDNA haplogroups M5a1, M18 and M35b among Roma has corroborated that their South Asian origins and later admixture with Near Eastern and European populations. However, previous studies have left unanswered questions about the exact parental population groups in South Asia. Here we present a detailed phylogeographical study of Y-chromosomal haplogroup H1a1a-M82 in a data set of more than 10,000 global samples to discern a more precise ancestral source of European Romani populations. The phylogeographical patterns and diversity estimates indicate an early origin of this haplogroup in the Indian subcontinent and its further expansion to other regions. Tellingly, the short tandem repeat (STR) based network of H1a1a-M82 lineages displayed the closest connection of Romani haplotypes with the traditional scheduled caste and scheduled tribe population groups of northwestern India.
authors.affiliation: CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Uppal Road, Hyderabad, India.
authors.forename: Niraj
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Rai
authors.forename: Gyaneshwer
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Chaubey
authors.forename: Rakesh
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Tamang
authors.forename: Ajai Kumar
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Pathak
authors.forename: Vipin Kumar
authors.initials: VK
authors.lastname: Singh
authors.forename: Monika
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Karmin
authors.forename: Manvendra
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Singh
authors.forename: Deepa Selvi
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Rani
authors.forename: Sharath
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Anugula
authors.forename: Brijesh Kumar
authors.initials: BK
authors.lastname: Yadav
authors.forename: Ashish
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Singh
authors.forename: Ramkumar
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Srinivasagan
authors.forename: Anita
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Yadav
authors.forename: Manju
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kashyap
authors.forename: Sapna
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Narvariya
authors.forename: Alla G
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Reddy
authors.forename: George
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: van Driem
authors.forename: Peter A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Underhill
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Villems
authors.forename: Toomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kivisild
authors.forename: Lalji
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Singh
authors.forename: Kumarasamy
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Thangaraj
mesh_terms: D001208:Asia; D041322:Chromosomes, Human, Y; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial; D005006:Ethnicity / Q000235:genetics*; D005060:Europe; D006239:Haplotypes; D006801:Humans; D018895:Microsatellite Repeats; D010802:Phylogeny; D058974:Phylogeography; D044465:White People / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial