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Ancient migratory events in the Middle East: new clues from the Y-chromosome variation of modern Iranians.

ABSTRACT: Knowledge of high resolution Y-chromosome haplogroup diversification within Iran provides important geographic context regarding the spread and compartmentalization of male lineages in the Middle East and southwestern Asia. At present, the Iranian population is characterized by an extraordinary mix of different ethnic groups speaking a variety of Indo-Iranian, Semitic and Turkic languages. Despite these features, only few studies have investigated the multiethnic components of the Iranian gene pool. In this survey 938 Iranian male DNAs belonging to 15 ethnic groups from 14 Iranian provinces were analyzed for 84 Y-chromosome biallelic markers and 10 STRs. The results show an autochthonous but non-homogeneous ancient background mainly composed by J2a sub-clades with different external contributions. The phylogeography of the main haplogroups allowed identifying post-glacial and Neolithic expansions toward western Eurasia but also recent movements towards the Iranian region from western Eurasia (R1b-L23), Central Asia (Q-M25), Asia Minor (J2a-M92) and southern Mesopotamia (J1-Page08). In spite of the presence of important geographic barriers (Zagros and Alborz mountain ranges, and the Dasht-e Kavir and Dash-e Lut deserts) which may have limited gene flow, AMOVA analysis revealed that language, in addition to geography, has played an important role in shaping the nowadays Iranian gene pool. Overall, this study provides a portrait of the Y-chromosomal variation in Iran, useful for depicting a more comprehensive history of the peoples of this area as well as for reconstructing ancient migration routes. In addition, our results evidence the important role of the Iranian plateau as source and recipient of gene flow between culturally and genetically distinct populations.

SUBMITTER: Grugni V

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3399854 | biostudies-literature | 2012

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Ancient migratory events in the Middle East: new clues from the Y-chromosome variation of modern Iranians.

Grugni Viola V Battaglia Vincenza V Hooshiar Kashani Baharak B Parolo Silvia S Al-Zahery Nadia N Achilli Alessandro A Olivieri Anna A Gandini Francesca F Houshmand Massoud M Sanati Mohammad Hossein MH Torroni Antonio A Semino Ornella O

PloS one 20120718 7

Knowledge of high resolution Y-chromosome haplogroup diversification within Iran provides important geographic context regarding the spread and compartmentalization of male lineages in the Middle East and southwestern Asia. At present, the Iranian population is characterized by an extraordinary mix of different ethnic groups speaking a variety of Indo-Iranian, Semitic and Turkic languages. Despite these features, only few studies have investigated the multiethnic components of the Iranian gene p ...[more]

PMID: 22815981

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Project description:UnlabelledThe Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) recently spread from an animal reservoir to infect humans, causing sporadic severe and frequently fatal respiratory disease. Appropriate public health and control measures will require discovery of the zoonotic MERS coronavirus reservoirs. The relevant animal hosts are liable to be those that offer optimal MERS virus cell entry. Cell entry begins with virus spike (S) protein binding to DPP4 receptors. We constructed chimeric DPP4 receptors that have the virus-binding domains of indigenous Middle Eastern animals and assessed the activities of these receptors in supporting S protein binding and virus entry. Human, camel, and horse receptors were potent and nearly equally effective MERS virus receptors, while goat and bat receptors were considerably less effective. These patterns reflected S protein affinities for the receptors. However, even the low-affinity receptors could hypersensitize cells to infection when an S-cleaving protease(s) was present, indicating that affinity thresholds for virus entry must be considered in the context of host-cell proteolytic environments. These findings suggest that virus receptors and S protein-cleaving proteases combine in a variety of animals to offer efficient virus entry and that several Middle Eastern animals are potential reservoirs for transmitting MERS-CoV to humans.ImportanceMERS is a frequently fatal disease that is caused by a zoonotic CoV. The animals transmitting MERS-CoV to humans are not yet known. Infection by MERS-CoV requires receptors and proteases on host cells. We compared the receptors of humans and Middle Eastern animals and found that human, camel, and horse receptors sensitized cells to MERS-CoV infection more robustly than goat and bat receptors. Infection susceptibility correlated with affinities of the receptors for viral spike proteins. We also found that the presence of a cell surface lung protease greatly increases susceptibility to MERS-CoV, particularly in conjunction with low-affinity receptors. This cataloguing of human and animal host cell factors allows one to make inferences on the distribution of MERS-CoV in nature.

Dataset Information

Ancient migratory events in the Middle East: new clues from the Y-chromosome variation of modern Iranians.

Publications

Ancient migratory events in the Middle East: new clues from the Y-chromosome variation of modern Iranians.

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