title: Y-chromosome descent clusters and male differential reproductive success: young lineage expansions dominate Asian pastoral nomadic populations.
abstract: High-frequency microsatellite haplotypes of the male-specific Y-chromosome can signal past episodes of high reproductive success of particular men and their patrilineal descendants. Previously, two examples of such successful Y-lineages have been described in Asia, both associated with Altaic-speaking pastoral nomadic societies, and putatively linked to dynasties descending, respectively, from Genghis Khan and Giocangga. Here we surveyed a total of 5321 Y-chromosomes from 127 Asian populations, including novel Y-SNP and microsatellite data on 461 Central Asian males, to ask whether additional lineage expansions could be identified. Based on the most frequent eight-microsatellite haplotypes, we objectively defined 11 descent clusters (DCs), each within a specific haplogroup, that represent likely past instances of high male reproductive success, including the two previously identified cases. Analysis of the geographical patterns and ages of these DCs and their associated cultural characteristics showed that the most successful lineages are found both among sedentary agriculturalists and pastoral nomads, and expanded between 2100 BCE and 1100 CE. However, those with recent origins in the historical period are almost exclusively found in Altaic-speaking pastoral nomadic populations, which may reflect a shift in political organisation in pastoralist economies and a greater ease of transmission of Y-chromosomes through time and space facilitated by the use of horses.
authors.affiliation: UMR 5288, Faculté de Médecine Purpan, Laboratoire d'Anthropologie Moléculaire et Imagerie de Synthèse (AMIS), CNRS/Université Paul Sabatier, Toulouse, France.|Department of Genetics, University of Leicester, Leicester, UK.
authors.forename: Patricia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Balaresque
authors.affiliation: Onema, Direction de l'Action Scientifique et Technique, Toulouse, France.
authors.forename: Nicolas
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Poulet
authors.affiliation: UMR5505- CNRS, Université de Toulouse, Toulouse, France.
authors.forename: Sylvain
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Cussat-Blanc
authors.affiliation: UMR 5288, Faculté de Médecine Purpan, Laboratoire d'Anthropologie Moléculaire et Imagerie de Synthèse (AMIS), CNRS/Université Paul Sabatier, Toulouse, France.
authors.forename: Patrice
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Gerard
authors.affiliation: CNRS URA3012, Unit of Human Evolutionary Genetics, Institut Pasteur, Paris, France.
authors.forename: Lluis
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Quintana-Murci
authors.affiliation: Eco-Anthropologie et Ethnobiologie, UMR 7206 CNRS, MNHN, Université Paris Diderot, Sorbonne Paris Cité, Sorbonne Universités, Paris, France.
authors.forename: Evelyne
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Heyer
authors.affiliation: Department of Genetics, University of Leicester, Leicester, UK.
authors.forename: Mark A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Jobling
mesh_terms: D044466:Asian People / Q000235:genetics*; D041322:Chromosomes, Human, Y / Q000235:genetics*; D005843:Geography; D006239:Haplotypes / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D018895:Microsatellite Repeats / Q000235:genetics; D010802:Phylogeny; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide / Q000235:genetics; D012098:Reproduction / Q000235:genetics*; D014171:Transients and Migrants