10.6084/m9.figshare.5840403.v1
Viola Grugni
Viola
Grugni
Alessandro Raveane
Alessandro
Raveane
Francesca Mattioli
Francesca
Mattioli
Vincenza Battaglia
Vincenza
Battaglia
Cinzia Sala
Cinzia
Sala
Daniela Toniolo
Daniela
Toniolo
Luca Ferretti
Luca
Ferretti
Rita Gardella
Rita
Gardella
Alessandro Achilli
Alessandro
Achilli
Anna Olivieri
Anna
Olivieri
Antonio Torroni
Antonio
Torroni
Giuseppe Passarino
Giuseppe
Passarino
Ornella Semino
Ornella
Semino
Reconstructing the genetic history of Italians: new insights from a male (Y-chromosome) perspective
Taylor & Francis Group
2018
Y-chromosome variation
haplogroups
genetic history of Italy
Italian population
2018-01-31 05:06:04
Dataset
https://tandf.figshare.com/articles/dataset/Reconstructing_the_genetic_history_of_Italians_new_insights_from_a_male_Y-chromosome_perspective/5840403
<p><b>Background:</b> Due to its central and strategic position in Europe and in the Mediterranean Basin, the Italian Peninsula played a pivotal role in the first peopling of the European continent and has been a crossroad of peoples and cultures since then.</p> <p><b>Aim:</b> This study aims to gain more information on the genetic structure of modern Italian populations and to shed light on the migration/expansion events that led to their formation.</p> <p><b>Subjects and methods:</b> High resolution Y-chromosome variation analysis in 817 unrelated males from 10 informative areas of Italy was performed. Haplogroup frequencies and microsatellite haplotypes were used, together with available data from the literature, to evaluate Mediterranean and European inputs and date their arrivals.</p> <p><b>Results:</b> Fifty-three distinct Y-chromosome lineages were identified. Their distribution is in general agreement with geography, southern populations being more differentiated than northern ones.</p> <p><b>Conclusions:</b> A complex genetic structure reflecting the multifaceted peopling pattern of the Peninsula emerged: southern populations show high similarity with those from the Middle East and Southern Balkans, while those from Northern Italy are close to populations of North-Western Europe and the Northern Balkans. Interestingly, the population of Volterra, an ancient town of Etruscan origin in Tuscany, displays a unique Y-chromosomal genetic structure.</p>