HLA Genes in the Chuvashian Population from European Russia: Admixture of Central European and Mediterranean Populations

Document Type

Article

Authors

Antonio Arnaiz-Villena, Department of Microbiology I-Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, Universidad Complutense, 28040 Madrid, Spain.
Jorge Martinez-Laso, Department of Microbiology I-Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, Universidad Complutense, 28040 Madrid, Spain.
Juan Moscoso, Department of Microbiology I-Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, Universidad Complutense, 28040 Madrid, Spain.
Gregory Livshits, Department of Anatomy, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel-Aviv, Israel.
Jorge Zamora, Department of Microbiology I-Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, Universidad Complutense, 28040 Madrid, Spain.
Eduardo Gomez-Casado, Department of Microbiology I-Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, Universidad Complutense, 28040 Madrid, Spain.
Carlos Silvera-Redondo, Department of Microbiology I-Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, Universidad Complutense, 28040 Madrid, Spain.
Kristin Melvin, Laboratory of Biological Anthropology, Department of Anthropology, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas 66045.
Michael H. Crawford, Laboratory of Biological Anthropology, Department of Anthropology, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas 66045.

Abstract

HLA alleles have been determined for the first time in individuals from the Chuvashian population by DNA typing and sequencing. HLA-A, -B, -DR, and -DQ allele frequencies and extended haplotypes have also been determined, and the results compared to those for Central Europeans, Siberians and other Asians, Caucasians, Middle Easterners, and Mediterranean peoples. Genetic distances, neighbor-joining dendrograms, and correspondence analysis have been performed. Present-day Chuvash speak an Altaic- Turkic language and are genetically related to Caucasians (Georgians), Mediterraneans, and Middle Easterners, and not only to Central or Northern Europeans; Chuvash contain little indications of Central Asian-Altaic gene flow. Thus, present-day Chuvash who speak an Altaic-Turkic language are probably more closely related to ancient Mesopotamian-Hittites and northern European populations than to central Asia-Altaic people.

Recommended Citation

Arnaiz-Villena, Antonio; Martinez-Laso, Jorge; Moscoso, Juan; Livshits, Gregory; Zamora, Jorge; Gomez-Casado, Eduardo; Silvera-Redondo, Carlos; Melvin, Kristin; and Crawford, Michael H. (2003) "HLA Genes in the Chuvashian Population from European Russia: Admixture of Central European and Mediterranean Populations," Human Biology: Vol. 75: Iss. 3, Article 6.
Available at: https://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/humbiol/vol75/iss3/6