The paternal ancestry of Uttarakhand does not imitate the classical caste system of India.
Although, there have been rigorous research on the Indian caste system by several disciplines, it is still one of the most controversial socioscientific topic. Previous genetic studies on the subcontinent have supported a classical hierarchal sharing of genetic component by various castes of India. In the present study, we have used high-resolution mtDNA and Y chromosomal markers to characterize the genetic structuring of the Uttarakhand populations in the context of neighboring regions. Furthermore, we have tested whether the genetic structuring of caste populations at different social levels of this region, follow the classical chaturvarna system. Interestingly, we found that this region showed a high level of variation for East Eurasian ancestry in both maternal and paternal lines of descent. Moreover, the intrapopulation comparison showed a high level of heterogeneity, likely because of different caste hierarchy, interpolated on asymmetric admixture of populations inhabiting on both sides of the Himalayas.
CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Hyderabad, India.|Department of Biotechnology, Kumaun University, Nainital, Uttarakhand, India.
Neetu
N
Negi
Department of Evolutionary Biology, Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia.|Estonian Biocentre, Tartu, Estonia.|Department of Zoology, University of Calcutta, Kolkata, India.|Department of Genetics, Osmania University, Hyderabad, India.
Rakesh
R
Tamang
Department of Biotechnology, Kumaun University, Nainital, Uttarakhand, India.
Veena
V
Pande
CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Hyderabad, India.
Amrita
A
Sharma
CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Hyderabad, India.
Anish
A
Shah
CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Hyderabad, India.
Alla G
AG
Reddy
Department of Genetics, Osmania University, Hyderabad, India.
Satti
S
Vishnupriya
CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Hyderabad, India.|Genome Foundation, Hyderabad, India.
Lalji
L
Singh
Estonian Biocentre, Tartu, Estonia.
Gyaneshwer
http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2899-3852
G
Chaubey
CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Hyderabad, India.
Kumarasamy
K
Thangaraj
D041322:Chromosomes, Human, Y; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial / Q000737:chemistry; D005260:Female; D005819:Genetic Markers; D014644:Genetic Variation; D005828:Genetics, Population; D006239:Haplotypes; D006801:Humans; D007194:India / Q000208:ethnology; D008297:Male; D000072741:Maternal Inheritance; D000072740:Paternal Inheritance; D012923:Social Class
D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial; D005819:Genetic Markers