In: Human biology: the international journal of population genetics and anthropology ; the official publication of the American Association of Anthropological Genetics, Band 73, Heft 1, S. 71-80
In: Human biology: the international journal of population genetics and anthropology ; the official publication of the American Association of Anthropological Genetics, Band 76, Heft 4, S. 569-590
<b><i>Background:</i></b> Alcohol dependence is a chronic, progressive neurobiological brain disorder. Previous research reported an inverse association between ethanol drinking and cerebral neuropeptide Y (NPY) levels. There are conflicting results of studies on <i>NPY</i> gene polymorphisms in association with alcohol dependence in humans. <b><i>Methods:</i></b> To assess the role of the <i>NPY</i> gene in alcohol dependence, we genotyped three polymorphisms - in a sample of 195 subjects from the Kota population (80 alcohol dependence and 115 controls) and 141 subjects from the Badaga population (80 alcohol dependence and 61 controls). Phenotype was defined based on the DSM-IV criteria. Genotyping was performed using sequencing. Association of the <i>NPY</i> gene with alcohol dependence was tested by using logistic regression and haplotype analyses and linkage disequilibrium. <b><i>Results:</i></b> All three polymorphisms were found to be in the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium in both populations. The results of our study reveal a significant association between G1258A and alcohol dependence in both the Kota and Badaga populations. The linkage disequilibrium between the markers is not strong or significant. Haplotype analysis also did not show significant association between the <i>NPY</i> gene and alcohol dependence. <b><i>Conclusion:</i></b> These data support the hypothesis that alcohol dependence is influenced by the NPY G1258A polymorphism in Indian populations.
In: Human biology: the international journal of population genetics and anthropology ; the official publication of the American Association of Anthropological Genetics, Band 77, Heft 6, S. 803-823
Abstract Background Human genetic diversity observed in Indian subcontinent is second only to that of Africa. This implies an early settlement and demographic growth soon after the first 'Out-of-Africa' dispersal of anatomically modern humans in Late Pleistocene. In contrast to this perspective, linguistic diversity in India has been thought to derive from more recent population movements and episodes of contact. With the exception of Dravidian, which origin and relatedness to other language phyla is obscure, all the language families in India can be linked to language families spoken in different regions of Eurasia. Mitochondrial DNA and Y chromosome evidence has supported largely local evolution of the genetic lineages of the majority of Dravidian and Indo-European speaking populations, but there is no consensus yet on the question of whether the Munda (Austro-Asiatic) speaking populations originated in India or derive from a relatively recent migration from further East. Results Here, we report the analysis of 35 novel complete mtDNA sequences from India which refine the structure of Indian-specific varieties of haplogroup R. Detailed analysis of haplogroup R7, coupled with a survey of ~12,000 mtDNAs from caste and tribal groups over the entire Indian subcontinent, reveals that one of its more recently derived branches (R7a1), is particularly frequent among Munda-speaking tribal groups. This branch is nested within diverse R7 lineages found among Dravidian and Indo-European speakers of India. We have inferred from this that a subset of Munda-speaking groups have acquired R7 relatively recently. Furthermore, we find that the distribution of R7a1 within the Munda-speakers is largely restricted to one of the sub-branches (Kherwari) of northern Munda languages. This evidence does not support the hypothesis that the .
WOS: 000398562100001 ; PubMed ID: 28387361 ; Human mitochondrial DNA haplogroup U is among the initial maternal founders in Southwest Asia and Europe and one that best indicates matrilineal genetic continuity between late Pleistocene huntergatherer groups and present-day populations of Europe. While most haplogroup U subclades are older than 30 thousand years, the comparatively recent coalescence time of the extant variation of haplogroup U7 (-16-19 thousand years ago) suggests that its current distribution is the consequence of more recent dispersal events, despite its wide geographical range across Europe, the Near East and South Asia. Here we report 267 new U7 mitogenomes that -analysed alongside 100 published ones -enable us to discern at least two distinct temporal phases of dispersal, both of which most likely emanated from the Near East. The earlier one began prior to the Holocene (-11.5 thousand years ago) towards South Asia, while the later dispersal took place more recently towards Mediterranean Europe during the Neolithic (-8 thousand years ago). These findings imply that the carriers of haplogroup U7 spread to South Asia and Europe before the suggested Bronze Age expansion of Indo-European languages from the Pontic-Caspian Steppe region. ; Estonian Institutional Research grant [IUT24-1]; ERC Starting Investigator grant [FP7-261213]; EU European Regional Development Fund through the Centre of Excellence in Genomics to Estonian Biocentre; Estonian Research Council grant [PUT1339, PUT1217, PUT766]; University of Pavia strategic theme "Towards a governance model for international migration: an interdisciplinary and diachronic perspective" (MIGRAT-IN-G); Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research: Futuro in Ricerca [RBFR126B8I]; Progetti Ricerca Interesse Nazionale; Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, Government of India (GENESIS) [BSC0121, BSC 0118]; National geographic Society through Genographic Project Research Grant [6-13]; European Social Fund's Doctoral Studies and Internationalisation Programme DoRa; Leverhulme Trust's Doctoral Scholarship programme; University of Huddersfield's University Research Fund and Research Excellent Staff Scheme; FCT Investigator Programme [IF/01641/2013] ; We thank all the DNA donors who participated in this study. This study was supported by Estonian Institutional Research grant IUT24-1 (to H.S., E.M., M.R., M.M., T.K., and R.V.); ERC Starting Investigator grant (FP7-261213) (to T.K.); EU European Regional Development Fund through the Centre of Excellence in Genomics to Estonian Biocentre; Estonian Research Council grant PUT1339 (to A.K.), PUT1217 (to Kr.T.) and PUT766 (to G.C.); the University of Pavia strategic theme "Towards a governance model for international migration: an interdisciplinary and diachronic perspective" (MIGRAT-IN-G); the Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research: Futuro in Ricerca 2012 (RBFR126B8I) (to A.A. and A.O.) and Progetti Ricerca Interesse Nazionale 2012 (to A.A., O.S., and A.T.); the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, Government of India (GENESIS: BSC0121) and (BSC 0118) (to Ku.T.); S.S. and E.R. acknowledge the support of National geographic Society through Genographic Project Research Grant (6-13). R.T. and A.K.P. were supported by the European Social Fund's Doctoral Studies and Internationalisation Programme DoRa. M.B.R. received support from the Leverhulme Trust's Doctoral Scholarship programme, and F.G. from the University of Huddersfield's University Research Fund and Research Excellent Staff Scheme. P.S. was supported by the FCT Investigator Programme (IF/01641/2013).