The paternal genetic legacy of Hungarian-speaking Rétköz (Hungary) and Váh valley (Slovakia) populations

Abstract

One hundred and six Rétköz and 48 Váh valley samples were collected from the contact zones of Hungarian-Slovakian territories and were genotyped for Y-chromosomal haplotypes and haplogroups. The results were compared with contemporary and archaic data from published sources. The genetic composition of the Rétköz population from Hungary and the Váh valley population from Slovakia indicates different histories. In the Rétköz population, the paternal lineages that were also found in the Hungarian Conquerors, such as R1a-Z93, N-M46, Q-M242, and R1b-L23, were better preserved. These haplogroups occurred in 10% of the population. The population of the Váh valley, however, is characterized by the complete absence of these haplogroups. Our study did not detect a genetic link between the Váh valley population and the Hungarian Conquerors; the genetic composition of the Váh valley population is similar to that of the surrounding Indo-European populations. The Hungarian Rétköz males shared common haplotypes with ancient Xiongnu, ancient Avar, Caucasian Avar, Abkhazian, Balkarian, and Circassian males within haplogroups R1a-Z93, N1c-M46, and R1b-L23, indicating a common genetic footprint. Another difference between the two studied Hungarian populations can be concluded from the Fst-based MDS plot. The Váh valley, in the western part of the Hungarian-Slovakian contact zone, is genetically closer to the Western Europeans. In contrast, Rétköz is in the eastern part of that zone and therefore closer to the Eastern Europeans.

Entwined Origins: Paternal and Maternal Genetic Legacies of Hungarian-Speaking Enclaves in the Carpathian Basin

“…Genetic data focusing on uniparental markers -speci cally Y-STR (short tandem repeat) and Y-SNP (single nucleotide polymorphism) -from modern Hungarian-speaking populations are available in the literature [21][22][23][24][25][26][27] . This includes data from groups residing in geographically secluded regions within the Carpathian Basin, like Bodrogköz 25 , as well as the Rétköz and Váh valley communities 26 .…”

“…This includes data from groups residing in geographically secluded regions within the Carpathian Basin, like Bodrogköz 25 , as well as the Rétköz and Váh valley communities 26 . Based on Ychromosomal data, the contemporary Hungarian males possess few identical genetic markers to 10 th -11 th century (conqueror) Hungarians in the Carpathian Basin as well as to the recent Central/Inner Asian populations and populations in the Ural and Caucasus Mountains 12,16,23,26,[28][29][30][31] . This rather weak paternal relationship could however be veri ed by the presence of haplogroups C-M217 (M86), R1a-Z93, Q-M242 and N-M46 in both ancient and present-day Hungarians 25,26,32,33 .…”

Phylogenetic study of the Hungarian-speaking Baranja (Croatia) and Zobor region (Slovakia) populations

“…Recently, the number of ancient DNA (aDNA) results based on both uniparental and whole genome data has increased, which form a robust genetic foundation for comparing ancient and contemporary populations in the Carpathian Basin (Maár et Genetic data focusing on uniparental markers -speci cally Y-STR (short tandem repeat) and Y-SNP (single nucleotide polymorphism) -from modern Hungarian-speaking populations are available in the literature (Csányi et Brandstätter et al 2007). This includes data from groups residing in geographically secluded regions within the Carpathian Basin, like Bodrogköz (Pamjav et al 2017), as well as the Rétköz and Váh valley communities (Pamjav et al 2022). Based on Y-chromosomal data, the contemporary Hungarian males possess few identical genetic markers to 10th -11th century (conqueror) Hungarians in the Carpathian Basin as well as to the recent Central/Inner Asian populations and populations in the Ural and Caucasus Mountains (Bíró et Neparáczki et al 2019).…”

“…Based on Y-chromosomal data, the contemporary Hungarian males possess few identical genetic markers to 10th -11th century (conqueror) Hungarians in the Carpathian Basin as well as to the recent Central/Inner Asian populations and populations in the Ural and Caucasus Mountains (Bíró et Neparáczki et al 2019). This rather weak paternal relationship could however be veri ed by the presence of haplogroups C-M217 (M86), R1a-Z93, Q-M242 and N-M46 in both ancient and present-day Hungarians (Neparáczki et al 2019;Fóthi et al 2020; Pamjav et al 2022;. In addition, the genetic trace of the populations of the Ural or Caucasus Mountains is the presence of Y-haplogroups N-L1034, R1b-L23 and G2a-L156 in ancient Hungarian conquerors and in present-day Hungarian speakers (Pamjav et al 2022;Fóthi et al 2020) Based on whole genome sequencing of ancient samples, the Hungarian conquerors may have had multiple components, some originating from the Ural region, others from the Central Eurasian steppe and the Volga region.…”

“…This rather weak paternal relationship could however be veri ed by the presence of haplogroups C-M217 (M86), R1a-Z93, Q-M242 and N-M46 in both ancient and present-day Hungarians (Neparáczki et al 2019;Fóthi et al 2020; Pamjav et al 2022;. In addition, the genetic trace of the populations of the Ural or Caucasus Mountains is the presence of Y-haplogroups N-L1034, R1b-L23 and G2a-L156 in ancient Hungarian conquerors and in present-day Hungarian speakers (Pamjav et al 2022;Fóthi et al 2020) Based on whole genome sequencing of ancient samples, the Hungarian conquerors may have had multiple components, some originating from the Ural region, others from the Central Eurasian steppe and the Volga region. The genomic results largely correspond with earlier uniparental marker studies (Maróti et al 2022;.…”