Human Biology Open Access Pre-Prints

Document Type

Article

Anticipated Volume

94

Anticipated Issue

4

Abstract

Population genetic studies have shown that the Bosnian-Herzegovinian (B&H) population is a part of the European gene pool, but until now there is limited information about the genetic structure of ancient B&H populations. In this regard, the aim of our study was to determine the frequency and distribution of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) haplogroups for medieval Bosnian population. Thirty-four samples, excavated from medieval necropolises located in the B&H according to the borders of medieval Bosnia, were subjected to analysis in this study. Sequencing of the mtDNA HVS1 region and RFLP analysis were performed for haplogroup determination. In our study, all 32 samples were identified as haplogroup H, with subhaplogroups H2a and H5 determined in 30 and 2 samples, respectively. The frequency of H haplogroup was significantly different between the studied samples and previous studies of contemporary populations in B&H, where the H haplogroup frequency was approximately half of that determined in the current study. A significant difference in H haplogroup frequency was also observed in comparison with other medieval populations outside of B&H, where the ancient B&H population is most similar to ancient Italians. Our results provide insight into the mitochondrial landscape of populations that inhabited the territory of present day B&H in the Middle Ages. Our study reveals that inhabitants of Medieval Bosnia carried genetic lineages that exist today in B&H populations suggesting continuity of mtDNA haplogroup over a long period of time, regardless of various historical demographic events that shaped the genetic structure of the modern B&H population.

Additional Files
Figure 1.png (111 kB)
Figure 2.JPG (62 kB)
Figure 3.pdf (387 kB)
Figure 4.png (18 kB)
Table 1.docx (15 kB)
Table 2.docx (13 kB)
Table 3.docx (14 kB)
Supplementary table 1.xlsx (22 kB)
Download

Share

COinS