title: Ladakh, India: the land of high passes and genetic heterogeneity reveals a confluence of migrations.
abstract: Owing to its geographic location near the longitudinal center of Asia, Ladakh, the land of high passes, has witnessed numerous demographic movements during the past millenniums of occupation. In an effort to view Ladakh's multicultural history from a paternal genetic perspective, we performed a high-resolution Y-chromosomal survey of Ladakh, within the context of Y haplogroup and haplotype distributions of 41 Asian reference populations. The results of this investigation highlight the rich ethnic and genetic diversity of Ladkah which includes genetic contributions from disparate regions of the continent including, West, East, South and Central Asia. The phylogenetic signals from Ladakh are consistent with the Indo-Aryans' occupation during the Neolithic age and its historic connection with Tibet, as well as the East-West gene flow associated with the Silk Road.
authors.affiliation: Foundation for Applied Molecular Evolution, Gainesville, Florida, USA.
authors.forename: Diane J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Rowold
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Miami Dade College, Miami, Florida, USA.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Perez Benedico
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Biology, Colorado College, Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA.
authors.forename: Ralph
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Garcia-Bertrand
authors.affiliation: Department of Experimental Medicine, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
authors.forename: Shilpa
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chennakrishnaiah
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Geńtica y Antropologıa Física, Facultad de Ciencia y Tecnologıa, Universidad del País Vasco (UPV/EHU), Bilbao, Spain.
authors.forename: Miguel A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Alfonso-Sanchez
authors.affiliation: Department of Human Genetics, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
authors.forename: Tenzin
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Gayden
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Biology, Colorado College, Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA.
authors.forename: Rene J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Herrera
mesh_terms: D041322:Chromosomes, Human, Y / Q000235:genetics; D018740:Genetic Heterogeneity; D014644:Genetic Variation; D005828:Genetics, Population; D006239:Haplotypes / Q000235:genetics; D063426:Human Migration; D006801:Humans; D007194:India; D058974:Phylogeography; D013997:Time Factors