Genetic characterisation of 19 autosomal STR loci in a population sample from the Southeastern Anatolia Region of Turkey.

BACKGROUND: Southeastern Anatolia is the smallest, yet the most densely populated region among the seven major geographic constituents of Turkey. Situated in the Upper Mesopotamia, Southeastern Anatolia was also the northernmost extension of the Fertile Crescent, which is often considered as the earliest cradle of civilisation. AIM: To investigate the autosomal STR polymorphisms associated with a truly representative population sample pool from Southeastern Anatolia. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Samples from a total of 257 volunteers were analysed by 19-loci autosomal STRs using the commercially available COrDIS Plus Kit. Allele frequencies, statistical parameters of forensic interest and Nei's DA distances with respect to the nearby and distant populations were calculated, besides performing exact tests of population differentiation with the same populations. RESULTS: A combined matching probability of 1.49978 × 10-23 and a combined power of exclusion of 0.999999961 were obtained for the novel Southeastern Anatolian autosomal STR dataset. Furthermore, the Southeastern Anatolia population was found to have close genetic affinities with the other regional populations from Turkey, along with those from an apparent genetic continuum extending from the Near East to Southeastern Europe. CONCLUSIONS: The novel Southeastern Anatolian dataset is expected to be useful in regional forensic genetics investigations and molecular anthropology applications.

A glimpse at the intricate mosaic of ethnicities from Mesopotamia: Paternal lineages of the Northern Iraqi Arabs, Kurds, Syriacs, Turkmens and Yazidis.

Widely considered as one of the cradles of human civilization, Mesopotamia is largely situated in the Republic of Iraq, which is also the birthplace of the Sumerian, Akkadian, Assyrian and Babylonian civilizations. These lands were subsequently ruled by the Persians, Greeks, Romans, Arabs, Mongolians, Ottomans and finally British prior to the independence. As a direct consequence of this rich history, the contemporary Iraqi population comprises a true mosaic of different ethnicities, which includes Arabs, Kurds, Turkmens, Assyrians, and Yazidis among others. As such, the genetics of the contemporary Iraqi populations are of anthropological and forensic interest. In an effort to contribute to a better understanding of the genetic basis of this ethnic diversity, a total of 500 samples were collected from Northern Iraqi volunteers belonging to five major ethnic groups, namely: Arabs (n = 102), Kurds (n = 104), Turkmens (n = 102), Yazidis (n = 106) and Syriacs (n = 86). 17-loci Y-STR analyses were carried out using the AmpFlSTR Yfiler system, and subsequently in silico haplogroup assignments were made to gain insights from a molecular anthropology perspective. Systematic comparisons of the paternal lineages of these five Northern Iraqi ethnic groups, not only among themselves but also in the context of the larger genetic landscape of the Near East and beyond, were then made through the use of two different genetic distance metric measures and the associated data visualization methods. Taken together, results from the current study suggested the presence of intricate Y-chromosomal lineage patterns among the five ethic groups analyzed, wherein both interconnectivity and independent microvariation were observed in parallel, albeit in a differential manner. Notably, the novel Y-STR data on Turkmens, Syriacs and Yazidis from Northern Iraq constitute the first of its kind in the literature. Data presented herein is expected to contribute to further population and forensic investigations in Northern Iraq in particular and the Near East in general.

Turkish Cypriot paternal lineages bear an autochthonous character and closest resemblance to those from neighbouring Near Eastern populations.

BACKGROUND: Cyprus is an island in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea with a documented history of human settlements dating back over 10,000 years. AIM: To investigate the paternal lineages of a representative population from Cyprus in the context of the larger Near Eastern/Southeastern European genetic landscape. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Three hundred and eighty samples from the second most populous ethnic group in Cyprus (Turkish Cypriots) were analysed at 17 Y-chromosomal short tandem repeat (Y-STR) loci. RESULTS: A haplotype diversity of 0.9991 was observed, along with a number of allelic variants, multi-allelic patterns and a most frequent haplotype that have not previously been reported elsewhere. Pairwise genetic distance comparisons of the Turkish Cypriot Y-STR dataset and Y-chromosomal haplogroup distribution with those from Near East/Southeastern Europe both suggested a closer genetic connection with the Near Eastern populations. Median-joining network analyses of the most frequent haplogroups also revealed some evidence towards in situ radiation. CONCLUSION: Turkish Cypriot paternal lineages seem to bear an autochthonous character and closest genetic connection with the neighbouring Near Eastern populations. These observations are further underscored by the fact that the haplogroups associated with the spread of Neolithic Agricultural Revolution from the Fertile Crescent (E1b1b/J1/J2/G2a) dominate (>70%) the Turkish Cypriot haplogroup distribution.

Population genetic data for 15 autosomal STR markers in Turkish Cypriots from Cyprus.

Fifteen autosomal short tandem repeat (STR) markers [D8S1179, D21S11, D7S820, CSF1PO, D3S1358, THO1, D13S317, D16S539, D2S1338, D19S433, vWA, TPOX, D18S51, D5S818 and FGA] were analyzed in 501 unrelated, randomly selected Turkish Cypriot individuals from the island of Cyprus. While no locus duplications or null alleles were detected in these samples, eight allelic variants were observed in total, 75% of which were intermediate allelic variants that were absent in the system allelic ladder. Allelic frequencies and statistical parameters of forensic interest were calculated at each locus. For the 15 STR loci tested, combined matching probability (pM) was 2.15717 × 10(-18) and combined power of exclusion (PE) was 0.9999995213. No deviations from the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium were observed, except for the vWA locus, which became insignificant after the Bonferroni correction for multiple testing. Locus-by-locus comparisons of the Turkish Cypriot allelic frequencies with those published for the neighboring and/or historically related populations with similar loci coverage (Turkish, Greek, Greek Cypriot, Italian and Lebanese) revealed some statistically significant differences at one to five loci. In general, an increase in the number of such significant differences between the Turkish Cypriot data and those for other populations correlated closely with an increase in the geographic distance and/or a decrease in the amount of historical contact. The Turkish Cypriot autosomal STR population study will find immediate use in the Committee on Missing Persons in Cyprus Project on the "Exhumation, Identification and Return of Remains of Missing Persons" and it will also be available for criminal, parentage and other missing person investigations.