Vestiges of an Ancient Border in the Contemporary Genetic Diversity of North-Eastern Europe

Anu M Neuvonen; Mikko Putkonen; Sanni Översti; Tarja Sundell; Päivi Onkamo; Antti Sajantila; Jukka U Palo

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0130331

Vestiges of an Ancient Border in the Contemporary Genetic Diversity of North-Eastern Europe

PLoS One. 2015 Jul 1;10(7):e0130331. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0130331. eCollection 2015.

Authors

Anu M Neuvonen¹, Mikko Putkonen¹, Sanni Översti², Tarja Sundell³, Päivi Onkamo⁴, Antti Sajantila⁵, Jukka U Palo¹

Affiliations

¹ Laboratory of Forensic Biology, Department of Forensic Medicine, PO Box 40 (Kytösuontie 11) FI-00014, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
² Department of Biology, Section of Genetics and Physiology, University of Turku, Itäinen Pitkäkatu 4, 20014, Turku, Finland; Department of Biosciences, PO Box 56 (Viikinkaari 5) FI-00014, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
³ Department of Biosciences, PO Box 56 (Viikinkaari 5) FI-00014, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland; Department of Philosophy, History, Culture and Art Studies, PO Box 59 (Unioninkatu 38 F) FI-00014, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
⁴ Department of Biosciences, PO Box 56 (Viikinkaari 5) FI-00014, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
⁵ Laboratory of Forensic Biology, Department of Forensic Medicine, PO Box 40 (Kytösuontie 11) FI-00014, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland; Institute of Applied Genetics, Department of Molecular and Medical Genetics, University of North Texas Health Science Center, 3500 Camp Bowie Blvd, Fort Worth, Texas, 76107, United States of America.

Abstract

It has previously been demonstrated that the advance of the Neolithic Revolution from the Near East through Europe was decelerated in the northernmost confines of the continent, possibly as a result of space and resource competition with lingering Mesolithic populations. Finland was among the last domains to adopt a farming lifestyle, and is characterized by substructuring in the form of a distinct genetic border dividing the northeastern and southwestern regions of the country. To explore the origins of this divergence, the geographical patterns of mitochondrial and Y-chromosomal haplogroups of Neolithic and Mesolithic ancestry were assessed in Finnish populations. The distribution of these uniparental markers revealed a northeastern bias for hunter-gatherer haplogroups, while haplogroups associated with the farming lifestyle clustered in the southwest. In addition, a correlation could be observed between more ancient mitochondrial haplogroup age and eastern concentration. These results coupled with prior archeological evidence suggest the genetic northeast/southwest division observed in contemporary Finland represents an ancient vestigial border between Mesolithic and Neolithic populations undetectable in most other regions of Europe.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Chromosomes, Human, Y / genetics
Europe
Europe, Eastern
Evolution, Molecular*
Genetic Variation*
Genome, Mitochondrial
Humans

Grants and funding

This work was supported by The Finnish Foundations’ Professor Pool Grant (http://www.professoripooli.fi;,Paulo Foundation; AS), The Finnish Population Genetics Graduate School (http://www.oulu.fi/biology/PopGenSchool/; AMN, MP), the University of Helsinki (AMN, TS), The Finnish Concordia Fund (http://www.konkordia-liitto.com/, TS), and the Academy of Finland grant no. 133056 (http://www.aka.fi/fi/A/; PO, SÖ, MP, TS). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.