Document Type
Article
Open Access Pre-Print
Abstract
Population genetic studies have shown that the Bosnian-Herzegovinian (B&H) population is a part of the European gene pool, but there has been limited information on the genetic structure of ancient B&H populations. This study aimed to determine the frequency and distribution of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) haplogroups for a medieval Bosnian population. Thirty-four samples, excavated from medieval necropolises located within the borders of medieval Bosnia, were analyzed. Sequencing of the mtDNA hypervariable segment 1 (HVS1) region and RFLP analysis were performed for haplogroup determination. All 32 samples were identified as haplogroup H, with subhaplogroups H2a and H5 in 30 and 2 samples, respectively. The frequency of the H haplogroup was significantly different between the studied samples and previous studies of contemporary B&H populations, where the H haplogroup frequency was approximately half that of the ancient population studied here. A significant difference in H haplogroup frequency compared with other medieval populations outside of Bosnia was also observed: the ancient B&H population is most similar to ancient Italians. These results provide insight into the mitochondrial landscape of populations that inhabited the territory of present-day Bosnia and Herzegovina 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 haplogroups over a long period of time, regardless of various historical demographic events that shaped the genetic structure of the modern B&H population.
Recommended Citation
Kalajdzic, Abdurahim; Pojskic, Naris; Ahmic, Adisa; Miralem, Merima; Lasic, Lejla; Dzehverovic, Mirela; Jusic, Belma; Pilav, Amela; Pojskic, Lejla; Bujak, Edin; Corbo, Tarik; and Hadziselimovic, Rifat
(2022)
"The First Insight into Mitochondrial DNA Haplogroup Prediction for a Population Originating from Medieval Bosnia,"
Human Biology:
Vol. 94:
Iss.
4, Article 2.
Available at:
https://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/humbiol/vol94/iss4/2
Approximate location of medieval necropoles where the samples were excavated: 1. Biskup Glavaticevo; 2. Bobovac – Crkvica; 3. Celebici; 4. Tuzla; 5. Klisa-Guca Gora (Travnik); 6. Alihodze (Travnik); 7. Arnautovici-Mili; 8. Metaljica (Hadzici)
Figure 2.JPG (62 kB)
Aerial footage capturing the Metaljica necropolis (post-excavation)
Figure 3.pdf (387 kB)
H haplogroup percentage by studies and populations
Figure 4.png (18 kB)
Neighbor joining tree of medieval populations
Table 1.docx (15 kB)
Haplogroup/subhaplogroups determined in our study
Table 2.docx (13 kB)
χ2 test of percentage comparison between medieval and contemporary populations from Bosnia and Herzegovina
Table 3.docx (14 kB)
χ2 test of percentage comparison between medieval populations
Title-page-abstract.docx (13 kB)
Title Page and abstract
Supplementary table 1.xlsx (22 kB)
Supplementary table
Author agreements.pdf (3081 kB)
Author Agreement
