TY - JOUR
T1 - Parallel evolution of genes and languages in the Caucasus region
AU - Balanovsky, Oleg
AU - Dibirova, Khadizhat
AU - Dybo, Anna
AU - Mudrak, Oleg
AU - Frolova, Svetlana
AU - Pocheshkhova, Elvira
AU - Haber, Marc
AU - Platt, Daniel
AU - Schurr, Theodore
AU - Haak, Wolfgang
AU - Kuznetsova, Marina
AU - Radzhabov, Magomed
AU - Balaganskaya, Olga
AU - Romanov, Alexey
AU - Zakharova, Tatiana
AU - Soria Hernanz, David F.
AU - Zalloua, Pierre
AU - Koshel, Sergey
AU - Ruhlen, Merritt
AU - Renfrew, Colin
AU - Wells, R. Spencer
AU - Tyler-Smith, Chris
AU - Balanovska, Elena
PY - 2011/10
Y1 - 2011/10
N2 - We analyzed 40 single nucleotide polymorphism and 19 short tandem repeat Y-chromosomal markers in a large sample of 1,525 indigenous individuals from 14 populations in the Caucasus and 254 additional individuals representing potential source populations. We also employed a lexicostatistical approach to reconstruct the history of the languages of the North Caucasian family spoken by the Caucasus populations. We found a different major haplogroup to be prevalent in each of four sets of populations that occupy distinct geographic regions and belong to different linguistic branches. The haplogroup frequencies correlated with geography and, even more strongly, with language. Within haplogroups, a number of haplotype clusters were shown to be specific to individual populations and languages. The data suggested a direct origin of Caucasus male lineages from the Near East, followed by high levels of isolation, differentiation, and genetic drift in situ. Comparison of genetic and linguistic reconstructions covering the last few millennia showed striking correspondences between the topology and dates of the respective gene and language trees and with documented historical events. Overall, in the Caucasus region, unmatched levels of gene-language coevolution occurred within geographically isolated populations, probably due to its mountainous terrain.
AB - We analyzed 40 single nucleotide polymorphism and 19 short tandem repeat Y-chromosomal markers in a large sample of 1,525 indigenous individuals from 14 populations in the Caucasus and 254 additional individuals representing potential source populations. We also employed a lexicostatistical approach to reconstruct the history of the languages of the North Caucasian family spoken by the Caucasus populations. We found a different major haplogroup to be prevalent in each of four sets of populations that occupy distinct geographic regions and belong to different linguistic branches. The haplogroup frequencies correlated with geography and, even more strongly, with language. Within haplogroups, a number of haplotype clusters were shown to be specific to individual populations and languages. The data suggested a direct origin of Caucasus male lineages from the Near East, followed by high levels of isolation, differentiation, and genetic drift in situ. Comparison of genetic and linguistic reconstructions covering the last few millennia showed striking correspondences between the topology and dates of the respective gene and language trees and with documented historical events. Overall, in the Caucasus region, unmatched levels of gene-language coevolution occurred within geographically isolated populations, probably due to its mountainous terrain.
KW - Caucasus
KW - gene geography
KW - glottochronology
KW - Y chromosome
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=80053213063&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1093/molbev/msr126
DO - 10.1093/molbev/msr126
M3 - Article
C2 - 21571925
AN - SCOPUS:80053213063
SN - 0737-4038
VL - 28
SP - 2905
EP - 2920
JO - Molecular Biology and Evolution
JF - Molecular Biology and Evolution
IS - 10
ER -