Genetic structure of the Kuwaiti population revealed by paternal lineages

Abstract

Objective: We analyzed the Y-chromosome haplogroup diversity in the Kuwaiti population to gain a more complete overview of its genetic landscape.

Method: A sample of 117 males from the Kuwaiti population was studied through the analysis of 22 Y-SNPs. The results were then interpreted in conjunction with those of other populations from the Middle East, South Asia, North and East Africa, and East Europe.

Results: The analyzed markers allowed the discrimination of 19 different haplogroups with a diversity of 0.7713. J-M304 was the most frequent haplogroup in the Kuwaiti population (55.5%) followed by E-M96 (18%). They revealed a genetic homogeneity between the Kuwaiti population and those of the Middle East (FST = 6.1%, P-value < 0.0001), although a significant correlation between genetic and geographic distances was found (r = 0.41, P-value = 0.009). Moreover, the nonsignificant pairwise FST genetic distances between the Kuwait population on the one hand and the Arabs of Iran and those of Sudan on the other, corroborate the hypothesis of bidirectional gene flow between Arabia and both Iran and Sudan.

Conclusion: Overall, we have revealed that the Kuwaiti population has experienced significant gene flow from neighboring populations like Saudi Arabia, Iran, and East Africa. Therefore, we have confirmed that the population of Kuwait is genetically coextensive with those of the Middle East.