Geographical Structure of the Y‐chromosomal Genetic Landscape of the Levant: A coastal‐inland contrast

Abstract

SUMMARYWe have examined the male-specific phylogeography of the Levant and its surroundings by analyzing Y-chromosomal haplogroup distributions using 5874 samples (885 new) from 23 countries. The diversity within some of these haplogroups was also examined. The Levantine populations showed clustering in SNP and STR analyses when considered against a broad Middle-East and North African background. However, we also found a coastal-inland, east-west pattern of diversity and frequency distribution in several haplogroups within the small region of the Levant. Since estimates of effective population size are similar in the two regions, this strong pattern is likely to have arisen mainly from differential migrations, with different lineages introduced from the east and west.

Cytochrome P4502E1 (CYP2E1) Genetic Polymorphisms in a Lebanese Population: Frequency Distribution and Association with Morbid Diseases

“…It has been reported that Muslim expansion from the Arabian Peninsula during the 7th century lead to the current Lebanese Muslims. The Crusaders in the 11th-13th centuries introduced European lineages to already existing Lebanese Christians who have inhabited the eastern coast of the Mediterranean area and the nearby Mount Lebanon since the early onset of Christianity (Zalloua et al, 2008;El-Sibai et al, 2009). Most of our research participants were Muslims who constitute the majority of the AUBMC neighborhood; therefore, our results may reflect the effect of the immigration of Muslims from the Arabian Peninsula to both Lebanon and Egypt.…”

Mitochondrial analysis of a Byzantine population reveals the differential impact of multiple historical events in South Anatolia

“…Molecular genetic analyses of modern human populations provided important clues to reconstruct the past migratory trajectories in the eastern Mediterranean and Anatolia. 2,[20][21][22][23][24] Nevertheless, these results are limited by the fact that various demographic events could have obscured over time the evolutionary history inferred from modern populations. In this context, genetic analysis of ancient populations appears to be a promising way to investigate the origin of human populations and to validate hypotheses based on modern genetic data and other fields of study (eg historical and archaeological data).…”

Y-STR variation in Albanian populations: implications on the match probabilities and the genetic legacy of the minority claiming an Egyptian descent

“…Three out of five haplotypes fully matched with a total of 76 chromosomes of Albanian (31.6%), Balkan (30.3%), Central European (28.9%), Italian (1.3%) but also North African (5.3%) origin. Whether the African matches (two haplotypes from Sohag, Egypt; one haplotype from El Minia, Egypt; two haplotypes from Sfax, Tunisia) are identical by descent to Jevg chromosomes or they are the effect of convergence, a phenomenon commonly observed among haplotypes belonging to E-M35 subgroups [36] could be checked only by typing a larger set of population samples for M35 downstream mutations.…”