Mongolians in the Genetic Landscape of Central Asia: Exploring the Genetic Relations among Mongolians and Other World Populations

Document Type

Article

Authors

Jane E. Brissenden, University of TorontoFollow
Judith R. Kidd, Yale University School of MedicineFollow
Baigalmaa Evsanaa, Department of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, M5S Canada, & Department of Nephrology, Health Sciences University of Mongolia, Khoroo 1, Ulaanbataar, MongoliaFollow
Ariunaa Togtokh, Department of Nephrology, Health Sciences University of Mongolia, Khoroo 1, Ulaanbataar, MongoliaFollow
Andrew J. Pakstis, Department of Genetics, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, 06520 USAFollow
Françoise Friedlaender, Independent Scientist, Sharon, CTFollow
Kenneth K. Kidd, Yale UniversityFollow
Janet M. Roscoe, University of Toronto & The Scarborough Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, CanadaFollow

Open Access Pre-Print

http://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/humbiol_preprints/83/

Abstract

Genetic data on North Central Asian populations are under-represented in the literature, especially autosomal markers. In the present study we use 812 single nucleotide polymorphisms that are distributed across all the human autosomes and that have been extensively studied at Yale to examine the affinities of two recently collected, samples of populations: rural and cosmopolitan Mongolians from Ulaanbaatar and nomadic, Turkic-speaking Tsaatan from Mongolia near the Siberian border. We compare these two populations to one another and to a global set of populations and discuss their relationships to New World populations. Specifically, we analyze data on 521 autosomal loci (single SNPs and multi-SNP haplotypes) studied on 57 populations representing all the major geographical regions of the world. We conclude that the North Central Asian populations we study are genetically distinct from all other populations in our study and may be close to the ancestral lineage leading to the New World populations.

Recommended Citation

Brissenden, Jane E.; Kidd, Judith R.; Evsanaa, Baigalmaa; Togtokh, Ariunaa; Pakstis, Andrew J.; Friedlaender, Françoise; Kidd, Kenneth K.; and Roscoe, Janet M. (2015) "Mongolians in the Genetic Landscape of Central Asia: Exploring the Genetic Relations among Mongolians and Other World Populations," Human Biology: Vol. 87: Iss. 2, Article 1.
Available at: https://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/humbiol/vol87/iss2/1