title: Y-Chromosomal Lineages of Latvians in the Context of the Genetic Variation of the Eastern-Baltic Region.
abstract: Variations of the nonrecombining Y-chromosomal region were investigated in 159 unrelated Baltic-speaking ethnic Latvians from four different geographic regions, using 28 biallelic markers and 12 short tandem repeats. Eleven different haplogroups (hgs) were detected in a regionally homogeneous Latvian population, among which N1c, R1a, and I1 cover more than 85% of its paternal lineages. When compared its closest geographic neighbors, the composition of the Latvian Y-chromosomal gene pool was found to be very similar to those of Lithuanians and Estonians. Despite the comparable frequency distribution of hg N1c in Latvians and Lithuanians with the Finno-Ugric-speaking populations from the Eastern coast of the Baltic Sea, the observed differences in allelic variances of N1c haplotypes between these two groups are in concordance with the previously stated hypothesis of different dispersal ways of this lineage in the region. More than a third of Latvian paternal lineages belong specifically to a recently defined R1a-M558 hg, indicating an influence from a common source within Eastern Slavic populations on the formation of the present-day Latvian Y-chromosome gene pool.
authors.affiliation: Latvian Biomedical Research and Study Centre, Riga, Latvia.
authors.forename: Liana
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Pliss
authors.affiliation: Latvian Biomedical Research and Study Centre, Riga, Latvia.
authors.forename: Līga
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Timša
authors.affiliation: Estonian Biocentre, Tartu, Estonia.
authors.forename: Siiri
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Rootsi
authors.affiliation: Estonian Biocentre, Tartu, Estonia.
authors.forename: Kristiina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tambets
authors.affiliation: Latvian Biomedical Research and Study Centre, Riga, Latvia.
authors.forename: Inese
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Pelnena
authors.affiliation: Latvian Biomedical Research and Study Centre, Riga, Latvia.
authors.forename: Egija
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Zole
authors.affiliation: Riga Stradins University, Riga, Latvia.
authors.forename: Agrita
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Puzuka
authors.affiliation: State Centre for Forensic Medical Examination of the Republic of Latvia, Riga, Latvia.
authors.forename: Areta
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sabule
authors.affiliation: State Centre for Forensic Medical Examination of the Republic of Latvia, Riga, Latvia.
authors.forename: Sandra
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Rozane
authors.affiliation: Latvian Biomedical Research and Study Centre, Riga, Latvia.
authors.forename: Baiba
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Lace
authors.affiliation: Human Genome Research Centre, Faculty of Medicine, Vilnius University, Vilnius, Lithuania.
authors.forename: Vaidutis
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Kucinskas
authors.affiliation: Latvian Biomedical Research and Study Centre, Riga, Latvia.
authors.forename: Astrida
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Krumina
authors.affiliation: Latvian Biomedical Research and Study Centre, Riga, Latvia.
authors.forename: Renate
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ranka
authors.affiliation: Latvian Biomedical Research and Study Centre, Riga, Latvia.
authors.forename: Viesturs
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Baumanis
mesh_terms: D041322:Chromosomes, Human, Y / Q000235:genetics*; D005788:Gene Pool; D005819:Genetic Markers; D014644:Genetic Variation; D005828:Genetics, Population; D005838:Genotype; D006239:Haplotypes; D006801:Humans; D007844:Latvia; D008297:Male; D018895:Microsatellite Repeats; D010802:Phylogeny; D058974:Phylogeography; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D044465:White People / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D005819:Genetic Markers
keywords: Latvian population; Y-chromosomal short tandem repeats (Y-STRs); Y-chromosome; biallelic markers; comparative analysis