The paternal perspective of the Slovenian population and its relationship with other populations

Abstract

Analysis of Y-chromosomal markers in five Slovenian regions revealed a diverse genetic landscape. Slovenian population display close genetic affiliations with West Slavic populations. The homogenous genetic strata of the West Slavic populations and the Slovenian population suggest the existence of a common ancestral Slavic population in central European region.

The lack of association between angiotensin‐converting enzyme gene insertion/deletion polymorphism and nicotine dependence in multiple sclerosis

“…Our study group consisted of 521 patients, all fulfilling Mc Donald's criteria for MS (Polman et al., 2005) and all recruited by collaborating genetic and clinical centers from Croatia and Slovenia, which belong to the same geographic area where the populations share a similar ethnic background (Table 1) (Zupan, Vrabec, & Glavač, 2013). The course of MS was classified according to the clinical data (Lublin & Reingold, 1996), and disease severity was estimated using the Expanded Disability Status Scale and Multiple Sclerosis Severity Score at the time when blood samples for genetics analysis were taken (Kurtzke, 1983; Roxburgh et al., 2005).…”

The maternal perspective for five Slovenian regions: The importance of regional sampling

“…Cultural transmission of Slavic culture in some regions was also suggested in a recent study of the Bulgarian gene pool (Karachanak et al, 2013) based on the Y-chromosome. However, a population analysis of Y-chromosome markers in the Slovenian population revealed no such strong gradient among Slovenian populations (Zupan et al, 2013), which could suggest a different demographic history of paternal and maternal lineages in the area. It should be noted that an investigation of ancient DNA from Neolithic sites in Europe revealed a heterogeneous genetic pattern, suggesting heterogeneity among European Neolithic populations and a distinct expansion route for the spread of Neolithic populations into Europe (Lacan et al, 2011;Pinhasi et al, 2012).…”

“…Whole blood samples were collected on site from 402 Slovenian individuals from five different regions of Slovenia (the Slovenian Littoral Region, Upper Carniola, Lower Carniola, Styria and Prekmurje) (Figure 1), as described previously (Zupan et al, 2013). The study was approved by the Slovenian Medical Ethics Committee (18.10.2011).…”

“…Although the Slovenian gene pool was significantly shaped during medieval settlements by Slavic tribes (Zupan et al, 2013), the high frequency of presumably Neolithic haplotypes provides new insight into interactions between Romanized indigenous populations and Slavic tribes. The genetic data suggest the survival and co-existence of at least maternal Neolithic lineages during early medieval times and provide us with important clues about the nature of the Slavic settlements, suggesting not only demic but also cultural spreading.…”

“…Exceptions are observed for the Hungarian population, which exhibits a lower frequency of H* and a higher frequency of the N haplogroup, and the Finnish population, which presents higher frequencies of the U5b and N haplogroups. Interestingly, a study on Y chromosome markers (Zupan et al, 2013) revealed proximal affiliations between Hungarian and Slavic populations and explained these findings as a prime example of culture and language acquisition through the 'elite dominance' model. The distinct results found for Hungarian maternal lineages could suggest the occurrence of different demographic processes between maternal and paternal lineages.…”