ABSTRACT
The Balkan Peninsula is a complex cultural mosaic comprising populations speaking languages from several branches of the Indo-European family and Altaic, as well as culturally-defined minorities such as the Aromuns who speak a Romance language. The current cultural and linguistic landscape is a palimpsest in which different peoples have contributed their cultures in a historical succession. We have sought to find any evidence of genetic stratification related to those cultural layers by typing both mtDNA and Y chromosomes, in Albanians, Romanians, Macedonians, Greeks, and five Aromun populations. We have paid special attention to the Aromuns, and sought to test genetically various hypotheses on their origins. MtDNA and Y-chromosome haplogroup frequencies in the Balkans were found to be similar to those elsewhere in Europe. MtDNA sequences and Y-chromosome STR haplotypes revealed decreased variation in some Aromun populations. Variation within Aromun populations was the primary source of genetic differentiation. Y-chromosome haplotypes tended to be shared across Aromuns, but not across non-Aromun populations. These results point to a possible common origin of the Aromuns, with drift acting to differentiate the separate Aromun communities. The homogeneity of Balkan populations prevented testing for the origin of the Aromuns, although a significant Roman contribution can be ruled out.
Subject(s)
Chromosomes, Human, Y , DNA, Mitochondrial , Genetic Variation , Language , Emigration and Immigration , Europe, Eastern , Genetic Drift , Genetic Markers , Genetics, Population , Humans , Male , Phylogeny , Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide , Sequence Analysis, DNAABSTRACT
Within a study of the genetics of Southeastern European populations seven serum protein polymorphisms (AMY2, BF, C3, CP, GC, HPA, TF) were examined in three samples of Aromuns (Albania: the village of Andon Poci, province Gjirocaster, Republic of Macedonia: Stip region, Romania: the village Kogalniceanu, province Dobruja) and four reference samples (Albanians: Tirana, Romanians: Constanta and Ploiesti as well as Greeks (Northeastern Greece)). The Aromun samples from Albania and Romania form one separate cluster and the reference samples together with the Aromuns from Macedonia (Stip region) form a second one.
Subject(s)
Blood Proteins/genetics , Ethnicity/genetics , Genetics, Population , Albania , Gene Frequency , Greece , Humans , Phenotype , Polymorphism, Genetic/genetics , Republic of North Macedonia , RomaniaABSTRACT
Within a study of the genetics of Southeastern European populations four DNA-STR-systems (D21S11, FGA, TH01, VWA) were examined in seven samples (samples of three Aromuns and four other Balkan populations). The results have been compared to data from four samples from literature (Austrians, Germans, Hungarians, Slovenians). The results show three clusters: a) the Aromuns from Albania (Andon Poci) and Macedonia (Stip region), b) the Romanian Aromuns (Kogalniceanu), Romanians (Constanta, Ploiesti) and Albanians (Tirana) und c) the data from literature. A sample of Northeastern Greece clearly differs from these three clusters. Including seven serum protein polymorphisms (without the populations from literature) results in two clusters: a) the three Aromun populations and b) Albanians and Romanians. Again the sample of Northeastern Greece clearly differs from these clusters.
Subject(s)
Blood Proteins/genetics , DNA/genetics , Ethnicity/genetics , Genetics, Population , Tandem Repeat Sequences , Albania , Cross-Cultural Comparison , Europe, Eastern , Gene Frequency , Greece , Humans , Phenotype , Republic of North Macedonia , RomaniaABSTRACT
Several enzyme polymorphisms and hemoglobin variants were typed in a sample of n = 219 non-related Greek blood-donors. The following gene frequencies were observed: pa = 0.201, pb = 0.701, pc = 0.098;PGDA = 0.985, PGDc = 0.015; AK1 = 0.942, AK2 = 0.058; HbA = 0.988, HbS = 0.012. No polymorphic variation was seen in LDH, s-MDH, PHI, or SOD. The population genetical aspects of these results are discussed.
