Genetic structure of nomadic Bedouin from Kuwait

Abstract

Bedouin are traditionally nomadic inhabitants of the Persian Gulf who claim descent from two male lineages: Adnani and Qahtani. We have investigated whether or not this tradition is reflected in the current genetic structure of a sample of 153 Bedouin males from six Kuwaiti tribes, including three tribes from each traditional lineage. Volunteers were genotyped using a panel of autosomal and Y-STRs, and Y-SNPs. The samples clustered with their geographical neighbours in both the autosomal and Y-chromosomal analyses, and showed strong evidence of genetic isolation and drift. Whilst there was no evidence of segregation into the two male lineages, other aspects of genetic structure were in accord with tradition.

Deciphering the fine-structure of tribal admixture in the Bedouin population using genomic data

“…Their work was focused on large-scale migration patterns, such as the introduction of African haplotypes into Arabian Peninsular populations. Mohammad et al (2009) studied a more recent history of population structure in Kuwait. They used both autosomal and Y chromosomal markers to study samples from six Kuwaiti tribes.…”

“…Such constellations could be because of spatial constraints, religious and other social polarization, or traditions linked to common historical events. Examples for such patterns could be found with the Amish (Strauss and Puffenberger, 2009) the French Canadians, and the Bedouin populations (Laberge et al, 2005;Mohammad et al, 2009;Teebi, 1997).…”

“…Marriages between the different tribes in a clan are less frequent. Marriages between clans are rare and in many cases forbidden (Mohammad et al, 2009;Marx, 1977). Tribes and clans may vary substantially in size.…”

“…In order to develop a methodology for mapping tribal relatedness, it is instructive to learn about the traditional structure of Bedouin tribes. The Bedouins are nomadic people present throughout the Middle East, most of whom migrated from the Arabian Peninsula (Mohammad et al, 2009;Hunter-Zinck et al, 2010;Sheffield et al, 1998;Marx, 1967;Cavalli-Sforza et al, 1994). The Bedouin social structure is organized in a very hierarchical manner: several basic units of nuclear families are integrated into a tribe (an extended family of relatives), and the federation of several tribes forms a clan (Marx, 1977;Chatty, 2006).…”

Genetic structure of theKuwaiti population revealed by paternal lineages

“…These studies suggest that the genetic structure of Kuwait resembles that of neighboring populations. Furthermore, the genetic diversity of autosomal STRs, YSTRs, and Y-SNPs was investigated in six Bedouin tribes from Kuwait with these data indicating that these groups clustered with their geographical neighbors (Mohammad et al, 2009), thus adding to the strong evidence of genetic similarity of Kuwait with neighboring populations. In these Kuwaiti Bedouin populations, haplogroup J1 was observed at very high frequency reaching 84% of all the analyzed samples.…”