May 12, 2015

mtDNA haplogroup A10 in Bronze Age West Siberia

PLoS ONE 10(5): e0127182. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0127182

MtDNA Haplogroup A10 Lineages in Bronze Age Samples Suggest That Ancient Autochthonous Human Groups Contributed to the Specificity of the Indigenous West Siberian Population

Aleksandr S. Pilipenko et al.

Abstract

Background

The craniometric specificity of the indigenous West Siberian human populations cannot be completely explained by the genetic interactions of the western and eastern Eurasian groups recorded in the archaeology of the area from the beginning of the 2nd millennium BC. Anthropologists have proposed another probable explanation: contribution to the genetic structure of West Siberian indigenous populations by ancient human groups, which separated from western and eastern Eurasian populations before the final formation of their phenotypic and genetic features and evolved independently in the region over a long period of time. This hypothesis remains untested. From the genetic point of view, it could be confirmed by the presence in the gene pool of indigenous populations of autochthonous components that evolved in the region over long time periods. The detection of such components, particularly in the mtDNA gene pool, is crucial for further clarification of early regional genetic history.

Results and Conclusion

We present the results of analysis of mtDNA samples (n = 10) belonging to the A10 haplogroup, from Bronze Age populations of West Siberian forest-steppe (V—I millennium BC), that were identified in a screening study of a large diachronic sample (n = 96). A10 lineages, which are very rare in modern Eurasian populations, were found in all the Bronze Age groups under study. Data on the A10 lineages’ phylogeny and phylogeography in ancient West Siberian and modern Eurasian populations suggest that A10 haplogroup underwent a long-term evolution in West Siberia or arose there autochthonously; thus, the presence of A10 lineages indicates the possible contribution of early autochthonous human groups to the genetic specificity of modern populations, in addition to contributions of later interactions of western and eastern Eurasian populations.

Link

7 comments:

terryt said...

"Data on the A10 lineages’ phylogeny and phylogeography in ancient West Siberian and modern Eurasian populations suggest that A10 haplogroup underwent a long-term evolution in West Siberia or arose there autochthonously"

I have long assumed that the phylogeography of mt-DNA A indicates an ancient presence somewhere along the northern margin of the Tibetan Plateau. In fact I believe its presence there is as a remnant of the original route mt-DNA N took as it moved from somewhere near Africa towards the east, quite rapidly reaching Australia. Interestingly there are no basal N haplogroups in South Asia indicating to me that the route east was not through that region.

eurologist said...

It is quite certain that the Siberian Aurignacian predates the formation of an Eastern-specific phenotype (and haplotype, e.g., the derived EDAR gene). The Gravettian flowed both East and West (most likely from the same region - the Upper Indus River valley) more contemporaneous to this mutation. While some westward diffusion of such eastern characteristics before LGM cannot be excluded, the low population density would make that quite meaningless. Much more meaningful incursions from the sub-Siberian East obviously happened after LGM. And while the ancient Siberian population largely had little chance, it was once widespread and clearly could survive both in Siberian pockets (archaeologically documented) and by retreating southwards (see, e.g., the Kalash and SW - the southern Urals). I think that some of the NE European and N/ NE Pakistan phenotype (the one not recently admixed with E Asians) indeed both date back that long ago and are a significant part of what makes Europeans - especially N, E, and C Europeans.

tew said...

Wouldn't this confirm the idea that the old "Uralic" type isn't just a mixture of East and West, but a thing on its own, with an independent evolution?

Kristiina said...

We should also remember this upcoming paper in which they ”extracted DNA from the skeletal remains ranging from around 27,000 YBP to as recent as the 18th century AD [from the Siberian Arctic] and analyzed the mitochondrial DNA control region. We successfully identified maternal lineages for five individuals that include haplogroups A2 and C4. More frequent in south/central Siberia, the presence of haplogroup C4 in northern Siberia as early as 8,000 YBP illustrates the antiquity and widespread presence of the maternal lineage in the region. On the other hand, the presence of haplogroup A2 is consistent with its presence among contemporary northeastern Siberian populations.

terryt said...

"Wouldn't this confirm the idea that the old 'Uralic' type isn't just a mixture of East and West, but a thing on its own, with an independent evolution?"

I don't think you could be justified in calling any population that originally contained A10 'Uralic' in any meaningful way. Perhaps 'Altaian', although even that seems a bit far west. However it doesn't rule out the idea it belonged to a population that was 'on its own, with an independent evolution'.

Gary said...

Here's a link to an interesting paper by Roberta Estes dealing with mtDNA Hg A in the Americas. While the paper mostly focuses on A4, it does describe one likely Native American instance of A10.

http://dna-explained.com/2015/03/05/haplogroup-a4-unpeeled-european-jewish-asian-and-native-american/

ron quiroriano said...

Gary Moore,
I read your link and found it very interesting,and i was reminded of a local paper on ancient native american DNA from burials on the monterey peninsula.

www.pcas.org/assets/documents/PagesfromV40N1a.pdf

They have a Chumash individual that is hg A10.