Dataset Information

Founders, drift, and infidelity: the relationship between Y chromosome diversity and patrilineal surnames.

ABSTRACT: Most heritable surnames, like Y chromosomes, are passed from father to son. These unique cultural markers of coancestry might therefore have a genetic correlate in shared Y chromosome types among men sharing surnames, although the link could be affected by mutation, multiple foundation for names, nonpaternity, and genetic drift. Here, we demonstrate through an analysis of 1,678 Y-chromosomal haplotypes within 40 British surnames a remarkably high degree of coancestry that generally increases as surnames become rarer. On average, the proportion of haplotypes lying within descent clusters is 62% but ranges from 0% to 87%. The shallow time depth of many descent clusters within names, the lack of a detectable effect of surname derivation on diversity, and simulations of surname descent suggest that genetic drift through variation in reproductive success is important in structuring haplotype diversity. Modern patterns therefore provide little reliable information about the original founders of surnames some 700 years ago. A comparative analysis of published data on Y diversity within Irish surnames demonstrates a relative lack of surname frequency dependence of coancestry, a difference probably mediated through distinct Irish and British demographic histories including even more marked genetic drift in Ireland.

SUBMITTER: King TE

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2668828 | biostudies-other | 2009 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other

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Founders, drift, and infidelity: the relationship between Y chromosome diversity and patrilineal surnames.

King Turi E TE Jobling Mark A MA

Molecular biology and evolution 20090209 5

Most heritable surnames, like Y chromosomes, are passed from father to son. These unique cultural markers of coancestry might therefore have a genetic correlate in shared Y chromosome types among men sharing surnames, although the link could be affected by mutation, multiple foundation for names, nonpaternity, and genetic drift. Here, we demonstrate through an analysis of 1,678 Y-chromosomal haplotypes within 40 British surnames a remarkably high degree of coancestry that generally increases as ...[more]

PMID: 19204044

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Project description:Analyses of genomic diversity along the X chromosome and of its correlation with autosomal diversity can facilitate understanding of evolutionary forces in shaping sex-linked genomic architecture. Strong selective sweeps and accelerated genetic drift on the X-chromosome have been inferred in primates and other model species, but no such insight has yet been gained in domestic animals compared with their wild relatives. Here, we analyzed X-chromosome variability in a large ovine data set, including a BeadChip array for 943 ewes from the world's sheep populations and 110 whole genomes of wild and domestic sheep. Analyzing whole-genome sequences, we observed a substantially reduced X-to-autosome diversity ratio (∼0.6) compared with the value expected under a neutral model (0.75). In particular, one large X-linked segment (43.05-79.25 Mb) was found to show extremely low diversity, most likely due to a high density of coding genes, featuring highly conserved regions. In general, we observed higher nucleotide diversity on the autosomes, but a flat diversity gradient in X-linked segments, as a function of increasing distance from the nearest genes, leading to a decreased X: autosome (X/A) diversity ratio and contrasting to the positive correlation detected in primates and other model animals. Our evidence suggests that accelerated genetic drift but reduced directional selection on X chromosome, as well as sex-biased demographic events, explain low X-chromosome diversity in sheep species. The distinct patterns of X-linked and X/A diversity we observed between Middle Eastern and non-Middle Eastern sheep populations can be explained by multiple migrations, selection, and admixture during the domestic sheep's recent postdomestication demographic expansion, coupled with natural selection for adaptation to new environments. In addition, we identify important novel genes involved in abnormal behavioral phenotypes, metabolism, and immunity, under selection on the sheep X-chromosome.

Dataset Information

Founders, drift, and infidelity: the relationship between Y chromosome diversity and patrilineal surnames.

Publications

Founders, drift, and infidelity: the relationship between Y chromosome diversity and patrilineal surnames.

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