A genetic historical sketch of European Gypsies: The perspective from autosomal markers

Gusmão, Alfredo; Valente, Cristina; Gomes, Verónica; Alves, Cı́ntia; Amorim, António; Prata, Maria João; Gusmão, Leonor

doi:10.1002/ajpa.21166

Cited by 19 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 26 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…We estimate that the Roma have 77.5% West Eurasian ancestry, reflecting a combined estimate of the ANI ancestry that the Roma derive from their South Asian ancestors (pre-exodus) and the European ancestry related to the admixture in Europe (post-exodus from India). Our estimate of West Eurasian ancestry is broadly consistent with admixture proportions estimated using autosomal short tandem repeats (66–100%) [22]. Our estimates of non-West Eurasian ancestry (ASI = 22.5±1.8%) are also consistent with the estimates from mitochondrial DNA (26.5%) and Y-chromosome (16.7%) markers [23], [24].…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 85%

Reconstructing Roma History from Genome-Wide Data

et al. 2013

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The Roma people, living throughout Europe and West Asia, are a diverse population linked by the Romani language and culture. Previous linguistic and genetic studies have suggested that the Roma migrated into Europe from South Asia about 1,000–1,500 years ago. Genetic inferences about Roma history have mostly focused on the Y chromosome and mitochondrial DNA. To explore what additional information can be learned from genome-wide data, we analyzed data from six Roma groups that we genotyped at hundreds of thousands of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). We estimate that the Roma harbor about 80% West Eurasian ancestry–derived from a combination of European and South Asian sources–and that the date of admixture of South Asian and European ancestry was about 850 years before present. We provide evidence for Eastern Europe being a major source of European ancestry, and North-west India being a major source of the South Asian ancestry in the Roma. By computing allele sharing as a measure of linkage disequilibrium, we estimate that the migration of Roma out of the Indian subcontinent was accompanied by a severe founder event, which appears to have been followed by a major demographic expansion after the arrival in Europe.

show abstract

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 85%

Reconstructing Roma History from Genome-Wide Data

et al. 2013

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…16 The east-to-west genetic gradient observed in Roma populations is compatible with the postulated waves of migration within Europe. 4,7,17,18 All European Roma appear to descend from a low number of founders, and to have diverged into socially distinct endogamous groups after their arrival in Europe. 14,17,18 The Indian component of the proto-Roma ancestry was supported by the identification of disease-causing mutations described in affected subjects in India and Pakistan.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…4,7,17,18 All European Roma appear to descend from a low number of founders, and to have diverged into socially distinct endogamous groups after their arrival in Europe. 14,17,18 The Indian component of the proto-Roma ancestry was supported by the identification of disease-causing mutations described in affected subjects in India and Pakistan. 9,15,19,20 Furthermore, the Roma show high frequencies of the H-M69 Y-chromosome 4,17,21,22 and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) M5, M18, M25, and M35 haplogroups 4,7,17,[23][24][25] reported to have an Indian origin.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Origins, admixture and founder lineages in European Roma

et al. 2015

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The Roma, also known as 'Gypsies', represent the largest and the most widespread ethnic minority of Europe. There is increasing evidence, based on linguistic, anthropological and genetic data, to suggest that they originated from the Indian subcontinent, with subsequent bottlenecks and undetermined gene flow from/to hosting populations during their diaspora. Further support comes from the presence of Indian uniparentally inherited lineages, such as mitochondrial DNA M and Y-chromosome H haplogroups, in a significant number of Roma individuals. However, the limited resolution of most genetic studies so far, together with the restriction of the samples used, have prevented the detection of other non-Indian founder lineages that might have been present in the proto-Roma population. We performed a high-resolution study of the uniparental genomes of 753 Roma and 984 non-Roma hosting European individuals. Roma groups show lower genetic diversity and high heterogeneity compared with non-Roma samples as a result of lower effective population size and extensive drift, consistent with a series of bottlenecks during their diaspora. We found a set of founder lineages, present in the Roma and virtually absent in the non-Roma, for the maternal (H7, J1b3, J1c1, M18, M35b, M5a1, U3, and X2d) and paternal (I-P259, J-M92, and J-M67) genomes. This lineage classification allows us to identify extensive gene flow from non-Roma to Roma groups, whereas the opposite pattern, although not negligible, is substantially lower (up to 6.3%). Finally, the exact haplotype matching analysis of both uniparental lineages consistently points to a Northwestern origin of the proto-Roma population within the Indian subcontinent.

show abstract

“…However, these studies lacked accurate representation of Western Roma groups [6] and it was not until recently that genetic studies on Iberian Roma were published [11], [12]. Nonetheless, the specific origin of the Roma within the Indian continent has not been elucidated yet.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reconstructing the Indian Origin and Dispersal of the European Roma: A Maternal Genetic Perspective

et al. 2011

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Previous genetic, anthropological and linguistic studies have shown that Roma (Gypsies) constitute a founder population dispersed throughout Europe whose origins might be traced to the Indian subcontinent. Linguistic and anthropological evidence point to Indo-Aryan ethnic groups from North-western India as the ancestral parental population of Roma. Recently, a strong genetic hint supporting this theory came from a study of a private mutation causing primary congenital glaucoma. In the present study, complete mitochondrial control sequences of Iberian Roma and previously published maternal lineages of other European Roma were analyzed in order to establish the genetic affinities among Roma groups, determine the degree of admixture with neighbouring populations, infer the migration routes followed since the first arrival to Europe, and survey the origin of Roma within the Indian subcontinent. Our results show that the maternal lineage composition in the Roma groups follows a pattern of different migration routes, with several founder effects, and low effective population sizes along their dispersal. Our data allowed the confirmation of a North/West migration route shared by Polish, Lithuanian and Iberian Roma. Additionally, eleven Roma founder lineages were identified and degrees of admixture with host populations were estimated. Finally, the comparison with an extensive database of Indian sequences allowed us to identify the Punjab state, in North-western India, as the putative ancestral homeland of the European Roma, in agreement with previous linguistic and anthropological studies.

show abstract

A genetic historical sketch of European Gypsies: The perspective from autosomal markers

Cited by 19 publications

References 26 publications

Reconstructing Roma History from Genome-Wide Data

Reconstructing Roma History from Genome-Wide Data

Origins, admixture and founder lineages in European Roma

Reconstructing the Indian Origin and Dispersal of the European Roma: A Maternal Genetic Perspective

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About