title: Mitogenomes from The 1000 Genome Project reveal new Near Eastern features in present-day Tuscans.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Genetic analyses have recently been carried out on present-day Tuscans (Central Italy) in order to investigate their presumable recent Near East ancestry in connection with the long-standing debate on the origins of the Etruscan civilization. We retrieved mitogenomes and genome-wide SNP data from 110 Tuscans analyzed within the context of The 1000 Genome Project. For phylogeographic and evolutionary analysis we made use of a large worldwide database of entire mitogenomes (>26,000) and partial control region sequences (>180,000).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Different analyses reveal the presence of typical Near East haplotypes in Tuscans representing isolated members of various mtDNA phylogenetic branches. As a whole, the Near East component in Tuscan mitogenomes can be estimated at about 8%; a proportion that is comparable to previous estimates but significantly lower than admixture estimates obtained from autosomal SNP data (21%). Phylogeographic and evolutionary inter-population comparisons indicate that the main signal of Near Eastern Tuscan mitogenomes comes from Iran.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Mitogenomes of recent Near East origin in present-day Tuscans do not show local or regional variation. This points to a demographic scenario that is compatible with a recent arrival of Near Easterners to this region in Italy with no founder events or bottlenecks.
authors.affiliation: Unidade de Xenética, Departamento de Anatomía Patolóxica e Ciencias Forenses, and Instituto de Ciencias Forenses, Facultade de Medicina, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, 15872, Galicia, Spain; Grupo de Investigación en Genética, Vacunas, Infecciones y Pediatría (GENVIP), Hospital Clínico Universitario and Universidade de Santiago de Compostela (USC), Galicia, Spain.
authors.forename: Alberto
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gómez-Carballa
authors.affiliation: Unidade de Xenética, Departamento de Anatomía Patolóxica e Ciencias Forenses, and Instituto de Ciencias Forenses, Facultade de Medicina, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, 15872, Galicia, Spain; Grupo de Investigación en Genética, Vacunas, Infecciones y Pediatría (GENVIP), Hospital Clínico Universitario and Universidade de Santiago de Compostela (USC), Galicia, Spain.
authors.forename: Jacobo
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Pardo-Seco
authors.affiliation: Unidade de Xenética, Departamento de Anatomía Patolóxica e Ciencias Forenses, and Instituto de Ciencias Forenses, Facultade de Medicina, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, 15872, Galicia, Spain.
authors.forename: Jorge
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Amigo
authors.affiliation: Grupo de Investigación en Genética, Vacunas, Infecciones y Pediatría (GENVIP), Hospital Clínico Universitario and Universidade de Santiago de Compostela (USC), Galicia, Spain; Pediatric Emergency and Critical Care Division, Department of Pediatrics, Hospital Clínico Universitario de Santiago, Santiago de Compostela, Galicia, Spain.
authors.forename: Federico
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Martinón-Torres
authors.affiliation: Unidade de Xenética, Departamento de Anatomía Patolóxica e Ciencias Forenses, and Instituto de Ciencias Forenses, Facultade de Medicina, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, 15872, Galicia, Spain; Grupo de Investigación en Genética, Vacunas, Infecciones y Pediatría (GENVIP), Hospital Clínico Universitario and Universidade de Santiago de Compostela (USC), Galicia, Spain.
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Salas
mesh_terms: D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D054629:Genome, Mitochondrial; D023281:Genomics; D006239:Haplotypes; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy; D008877:Middle East; D058974:Phylogeography; D044465:White People / Q000235:genetics*