The central Siberian origin for native American Y chromosomes

Fabrício R. Santos*, Arpita Pandya, Chris Tyler-Smith, Sérgio D J Pena, Moses Schanfield, William R. Leonard, Ludmila Osipova, Michael H. Crawford, R. John Mitchell

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

179 Scopus citations

Abstract

Y chromosomal DNA polymorphisms were used to investigate Pleistocene male migrations to the American continent. In a worldwide sample of 306 men, we obtained 32 haplotypes constructed with the variation found in 30 distinct polymorphic sites. The major Y haplotype present in most Native Americans was traced back to recent ancestors common with Siberians, namely, the Kets and Altaians from the Yenissey River Basin and Altai Mountains, respectively. Going further back, the next common ancestor gave rise also to Caucasoid Y chromosomes, probably from the central Eurasian region. This study, therefore, suggests a predominantly central Siberian origin for Native American paternal lineages for those who could have migrated to the Americas during the Upper Pleistocene.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)619-628
Number of pages10
JournalAmerican journal of human genetics
Volume64
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - 1999

Funding

We thank D. R. Carvalho-Silva and E. Tarazona-Santos for comments on the manuscript. This work was supported by grants from Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cientifico e Tecnologico and Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de Minas Gerais, Brazil, and from the Leverhulme Trust, United Kingdom.

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Genetics
  • Genetics(clinical)

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