Frequencies of mtDNA Haplogroups in Southeastern Europe

[Alkman]

Frequencies of mtDNA haplogroups in southeastern Europe:
Croatians, Bosnians and Herzegovinians, Serbians, Macedonian Slavs and Macedonian Romani.

Cvjetan S, Tolk HV, Lauc LB, Colak I, Dordevic D, Efremovska L, Janicijevic B, Kvesic A, Klaric IM, Metspalu E, Pericic M, Parik J, Popovic D, Sijacki A, Terzic R, Villems R, Rudan P.

Institute for Anthropological Research, Zagreb, Croatia.


Mitochondrial DNA polymorphisms were analyzed in of 1,610 randomly chosen adult men from 11 different regions from southeastern Europe (Croatians, Bosnians and Herzegovinians, Serbians, Macedonians and Macedonian Romani). MtDNA HVS-I region together with RFLP sites diagnostic for main Euroasian and African mtDNA haplogroups were typed to determine haplogroup frequency distribution. The most frequent haplogroup in studied populations was H with the exception of Macedonian Romani among whom the most frequent were South Asian (Indian) specific variants of haplogroup M. The multidimensional scaling plot showed two clusters of populations and two outliers (Macedonian Romani and the most distant from mainland Croatian island of Korcula). The first cluster was formed by populations from three Croatian islands (Hvar, Krk and Brac) and the second cluster was formed by Macedonians, Serbians, Croatians from mainland and coast, Herzegovinians, Bosnians, Slovenians, Poles and Russians. The present analysis does not address a precise evaluation of phylogenetic relations of studied populations although some conclusions about historical migrations could be noticed. More extended conclusions will be possible after deeper phylogenetic and statistical analyses.



http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/q..._uids=15636075

[Pandur]

More about haplogroup H:

Am J Hum Genet. 2004 Nov;75(5):910-8. Epub 2004 Sep 20.


The molecular dissection of mtDNA haplogroup H confirms that the Franco-Cantabrian glacial refuge was a major source for the European gene pool.

Achilli A, Rengo C, Magri C, Battaglia V, Olivieri A, Scozzari R, Cruciani F, Zeviani M, Briem E, Carelli V, Moral P, Dugoujon JM, Roostalu U, Loogvali EL, Kivisild T, Bandelt HJ, Richards M, Villems R, Santachiara-Benerecetti AS, Semino O, Torroni A.

Dipartimento di Genetica e Microbiologia, Universita di Pavia, Pavia, Italy.

Complete sequencing of 62 mitochondrial DNAs (mtDNAs) belonging (or very closely related) to haplogroup H revealed that this mtDNA haplogroup--by far the most common in Europe--is subdivided into numerous subhaplogroups, with at least 15 of them (H1-H15) identifiable by characteristic mutations. All the haplogroup H mtDNAs found in 5,743 subjects from 43 populations were then screened for diagnostic markers of subhaplogroups H1 and H3. This survey showed that both subhaplogroups display frequency peaks, centered in Iberia and surrounding areas, with distributions declining toward the northeast and southeast--a pattern extremely similar to that previously reported for mtDNA haplogroup V. Furthermore, the coalescence ages of H1 and H3 (~11,000 years) are close to that previously reported for V. These findings have major implications for the origin of Europeans, since they attest that the Franco-Cantabrian refuge area was indeed the source of late-glacial expansions of hunter-gatherers that repopulated much of Central and Northern Europe from ~15,000 years ago. This has also some implications for disease studies. For instance, the high occurrence of H1 and H3 in Iberia led us to re-evaluate the haplogroup distribution in 50 Spanish families affected by nonsyndromic sensorineural deafness due to the A1555G mutation. The survey revealed that the previously reported excess of H among these families is caused entirely by H3 and is due to a major, probably nonrecent, founder event.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/q..._uids=15382008

The major haplogroups for Europeans are H, J, U, T, K, X, V and I. (See Bryan Syke's book The Seven Daughters of Eve)
haplogroup % of Europeans years before present origin
H (Helena) 47 20,000 South France
J (Jasmine) 17 10,000 Middle East
U (Ursula) 11 45,000 Greece
T (Tara) 9 17,000 Tuscany
K (Katrina) 6 15,000 North Italy
X (Xenia) 6 25,000 Georgia, Asia
V (Velda) 5 17,000 North Spain
I (Iris) <2 43,000 Iran

http://www.roperld.com/mtDNA.htm