Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Costa MD
PROVIDER: S-EPMC3806353 | biostudies-literature | 2013
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Nature communications 20130101
The origins of Ashkenazi Jews remain highly controversial. Like Judaism, mitochondrial DNA is passed along the maternal line. Its variation in the Ashkenazim is highly distinctive, with four major and numerous minor founders. However, due to their rarity in the general population, these founders have been difficult to trace to a source. Here we show that all four major founders, ~40% of Ashkenazi mtDNA variation, have ancestry in prehistoric Europe, rather than the Near East or Caucasus. Further ...[more]