title: A linguistically informed autosomal STR survey of human populations residing in the greater Himalayan region.
abstract: The greater Himalayan region demarcates two of the most prominent linguistic phyla in Asia: Tibeto-Burman and Indo-European. Previous genetic surveys, mainly using Y-chromosome polymorphisms and/or mitochondrial DNA polymorphisms suggested a substantially reduced geneflow between populations belonging to these two phyla. These studies, however, have mainly focussed on populations residing far to the north and/or south of this mountain range, and have not been able to study geneflow patterns within the greater Himalayan region itself. We now report a detailed, linguistically informed, genetic survey of Tibeto-Burman and Indo-European speakers from the Himalayan countries Nepal and Bhutan based on autosomal microsatellite markers and compare these populations with surrounding regions. The genetic differentiation between populations within the Himalayas seems to be much higher than between populations in the neighbouring countries. We also observe a remarkable genetic differentiation between the Tibeto-Burman speaking populations on the one hand and Indo-European speaking populations on the other, suggesting that language and geography have played an equally large role in defining the genetic composition of present-day populations within the Himalayas.
authors.affiliation: MGC Department of Human and Clinical Genetics, Leiden University Medical Centre, Leiden, the Netherlands.
authors.forename: Thirsa
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kraaijenbrink
authors.affiliation: MGC Department of Human and Clinical Genetics, Leiden University Medical Centre, Leiden, the Netherlands.
authors.forename: Kristiaan J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: van der Gaag
authors.affiliation: MGC Department of Human and Clinical Genetics, Leiden University Medical Centre, Leiden, the Netherlands.
authors.forename: Sofia B
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Zuniga
authors.affiliation: The Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Wellcome Trust Genome Campus, Hinxton, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Yali
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xue
authors.affiliation: The Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Wellcome Trust Genome Campus, Hinxton, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Denise R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Carvalho-Silva
authors.affiliation: The Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Wellcome Trust Genome Campus, Hinxton, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Chris
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Tyler-Smith
authors.affiliation: Department of Genetics, University of Leicester, Leicester, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Mark A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Jobling
authors.affiliation: Department of Genetics, University of Leicester, Leicester, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Emma J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Parkin
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Genetic Resources and Evolution, Kunming Institute of Zoology and Kunming Primate Research Centre, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, Yunnan, PR China.
authors.forename: Bing
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Su
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Genetic Resources and Evolution, Kunming Institute of Zoology and Kunming Primate Research Centre, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, Yunnan, PR China.
authors.forename: Hong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.affiliation: Human Genetics Centre, Yunnan University, Kunming, Yunnan, PR China.
authors.forename: Chun-Jie
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Xiao
authors.affiliation: Human Genetics Centre, Yunnan University, Kunming, Yunnan, PR China.
authors.forename: Wen-Ru
authors.initials: WR
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.affiliation: National DNA Analysis Center, Central Forensic Science Laboratory, Kolkata, India.
authors.forename: V K
authors.initials: VK
authors.lastname: Kashyap
authors.affiliation: National DNA Analysis Center, Central Forensic Science Laboratory, Kolkata, India.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Trivedi
authors.affiliation: National DNA Analysis Center, Central Forensic Science Laboratory, Kolkata, India.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sitalaximi
authors.affiliation: National DNA Analysis Center, Central Forensic Science Laboratory, Kolkata, India.
authors.forename: Jheelam
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Banerjee
authors.affiliation: Himalayan Languages Project, Institut für Sprachwissenschaft, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
authors.lastname: Karma Tshering of Gaselô
authors.affiliation: Centre for Nepal and Asian Studies, Tribhuvan University, Kirtipur, Nepal.
authors.forename: Nirmal M
authors.initials: NM
authors.lastname: Tuladhar
authors.affiliation: Himalayan Languages Project, Institut für Sprachwissenschaft, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Jean-Robert M L
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Opgenort
authors.affiliation: Himalayan Languages Project, Institut für Sprachwissenschaft, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
authors.forename: George L
authors.initials: GL
authors.lastname: van Driem
authors.affiliation: Department of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, University of Ferrara, Ferrara, Italy.
authors.forename: Guido
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Barbujani
authors.affiliation: MGC Department of Human and Clinical Genetics, Leiden University Medical Centre, Leiden, the Netherlands.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: de Knijff
mesh_terms: D001208:Asia; D002877:Chromosomes, Human / Q000235:genetics*; D051456:Gene Flow; D005828:Genetics, Population; D060005:Genotyping Techniques; D006801:Humans; D008037:Linguistics; D018895:Microsatellite Repeats / Q000235:genetics*