Slavic mitochondrial DNA analyse

[Zbruch]

Russian Journal of Genetics 37 (12): 1437-1443, December 2001
Differentiation and Genetic Position of Slavs among Eurasian Ethnic Groups as Inferred from Variation in Mitochondrial DNA
B. A. Malyarchuk
The distribution of identical and similar (phylogenetically related) types of hypervariable segment 1 (HVS1) of the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) was studied in human populations belonging to three Slavonic groups and nine ethnogeographic groups of Eurasia (total sample size 2772 people). The results testified to a common origin of West, South, and East Slavs and revealed a central place of West Slavs among all Slavonic ethnic groups. Mixing was shown to play a substantial role in the formation of specific features of all three Slavonic gene pools. The mitochondrial gene pools of the Slavonic ethnic groups proved to preserve features suggesting a common ancestor for these and South European populations (especially those of the Balkan Peninsula).
...
(2) West Slavs occupy the central position among all
Slavonic ethnic groups. The West Slavonic gene pool
has the maximum number of rare common and similar
mtDNA types as compared with the gene pools of Russians
and Bulgarians, while these two Slavonic ethnic
groups are only to an extent genetically similar to each
other.
(3) Interethnic interactions (mixing and assimilation)
have played a substantial role in the formation of
the genetic portrait of various Slavonic groups. West
Slavs show a high genetic similarity to German ethnic
groups (Germans, Austrians); Bulgarians are similar to
the ethnic groups of the Balkan Peninsula; and Russians
are similar to the Finno-Ugric ethnic groups of
Northern and Eastern Europe.
The results obtained allow the following conclusions.
(4) The gene pools of all Slavonic ethnic groups
show an appreciable similarity to the gene pools of
South European ethnic groups and especially to the ethnic
groups of the Balkan Peninsula. In addition, a substantial
fraction of rare and unique mtDNA types found
in the populations of Italy and Mediterranean islands
have analogs in the gene pools of West and East Slavs.
This testifies to a hypothesis that ancestors of modern
Slavs originally diverged from South European populations
to form an individual branch.
...
From the anthropological viewpoint, the high
genetic similarity between Russians and West Slavs can
be explained on the basis of a hypothesis that the major
anthropological type was brought to the Russian Plain
from the west and the southwest by East Slavonic ethnic
groups [21]. In addition, the above genetic data provide
evidence in favor of the concept that the genetic
features of modern Russians are determined by mixing
of Slavs and the Finno-Ugric populations of Eastern
Europe. Detection of common mtDNA types in the
gene pools of Russians and Iranians suggests an ancient
connection between Slavs and Scythian populations of
the steppe zone of Eastern Europe (which is supported
by the anthropological, linguistic, and archeological
data [1-3, 20].
...
Conclusion (4) that the Slavonic mitochondrial gene
pool is similar to that of the Balkan populations is supported
by linguistic data, as proto-Slavonic dialects are
considered connected with the southeastern group of
Indo-European dialects ([1], pp. 81-82).
...
Note also that the data on mtDNA variation in the
European populations are in general agreement with
data on polymorphism of the Y chromosome [22]. As
has been shown by now, a high similarity of the gene
pools of West and East Slavs is evident from the distribution
of paternal lines in the European populations.
First of all, this concerns the distribution of line 92R7TSRY1532A
in the Slavonic gene pools. The difference
in gene pool between individual Slavonic groups have
been attributed by their mixing with neighbors. For
instance, a high (11.6% on average) frequency of line
TatC in East Slavs can be explained by their intense
contacts with Finno-Ugric European populations,
which display the maximum (36% on average) frequency
of this marker. It is clear that a complex
approach utilizing data of molecular genetics and
humanities is necessary for further analysis of the origin
and differentiation of Slavonic ethnic groups.

[Exeter]

"On the plot, all the European populations share a common cluster, with 10 forming a core. Some other European populations are situated around this core and those populations are all geographical outliers. East European populations are arranged on the plot as follows: East Slavs (Russians, Ukrainians and Byelorussians) are most closely related to the French, Germans, Austrians, Italians, Hungarians, Greeks, Portuguese, but less closely to other European populations. The Adygei population is as far from the European core as the Swedish, Basque, Spanish, Albanian, Slovakian and Finnish populations. In agreement with the plot pattern, we can support the hypothesis that East Slavs migrated from the Central Europe area, as indicated by anthropological and archaeological data."
Apolipoprotein B 3-VNTR polymorphism in Eastern European populations