High level of male-biased Scandinavian admixture in Greenlandic Inuit shown by Y-chromosomal analysis

TY - JOUR

T1 - High level of male-biased Scandinavian admixture in Greenlandic Inuit shown by Y-chromosomal analysis

AU - Bosch, Elena

AU - Calafell, Francesc

AU - Rosser, Zoë H

AU - Nørby, Søren

AU - Lynnerup, Niels

AU - Hurles, Matthew E

AU - Jobling, Mark A

N1 - Keywords: Asian Continental Ancestry Group; Chromosomes, Human, Y; Denmark; European Continental Ancestry Group; Genetic Markers; Greenland; Haplotypes; Humans; Iceland; Inuits; Male; Microsatellite Repeats; Norway

PY - 2003

Y1 - 2003

N2 - We have used binary markers and microsatellites on the Y chromosome to analyse diversity in a sample of Greenlandic Inuit males. This sample contains Y chromosomes typical of those found in European populations. Because the Y chromosome has a unique and robust phylogeny of a time depth that precedes the split between European and Native American populations, it is possible to assign chromosomes in an admixed population to either continental source. On this basis, 58+/-6% of these Y chromosomes have been assigned to a European origin. The high proportion of European Y chromosomes contrasts with a complete absence of European mitochondrial DNA and indicates strongly male-biased European admixture into Inuit. Comparison of the European component of Inuit Y chromosomes with European population data suggests that they have their origins in Scandinavia. There are two potential source populations: Norse settlers from Iceland, who may have been assimilated 500 years ago, and the Danish-Norwegian colonists of the eighteenth century. Insufficient differentiation between modern Icelandic and Danish Y chromosomes means that a choice between these cannot be made on the basis of diversity analysis. However, the extreme sex bias in the admixture makes the later event more likely as the source.

AB - We have used binary markers and microsatellites on the Y chromosome to analyse diversity in a sample of Greenlandic Inuit males. This sample contains Y chromosomes typical of those found in European populations. Because the Y chromosome has a unique and robust phylogeny of a time depth that precedes the split between European and Native American populations, it is possible to assign chromosomes in an admixed population to either continental source. On this basis, 58+/-6% of these Y chromosomes have been assigned to a European origin. The high proportion of European Y chromosomes contrasts with a complete absence of European mitochondrial DNA and indicates strongly male-biased European admixture into Inuit. Comparison of the European component of Inuit Y chromosomes with European population data suggests that they have their origins in Scandinavia. There are two potential source populations: Norse settlers from Iceland, who may have been assimilated 500 years ago, and the Danish-Norwegian colonists of the eighteenth century. Insufficient differentiation between modern Icelandic and Danish Y chromosomes means that a choice between these cannot be made on the basis of diversity analysis. However, the extreme sex bias in the admixture makes the later event more likely as the source.

U2 - 10.1007/s00439-003-0913-9

DO - 10.1007/s00439-003-0913-9

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 12594533

SN - 0340-6717

VL - 112

SP - 353

EP - 363

JO - Human Genetics

JF - Human Genetics

IS - 4

ER -