Eastern Eurasian haplogroup R1b-M478 in the Balkarian population according to Y-STR

Dzhaubermezov Мurat, Ekomasova Natalia, Litvinov Sergei, Gabidullina Liliya, Khusnutdinova Elsa

In view of the fact that the Caucasus is located on the border between Europe and Asia, the peoples living in this region have been influenced by different cultures during different historical periods. Among the Balkarians, 5 sub-ethnic groups are singled out: Baksanians, Chegemians, Holams, Bezengievs and Malkars. Balkars Turkic-speaking people inhabiting mountainous and sub-mountainous areas of the central part of the North Caucasus. The number of Balkars in Russia 112.900 people. The material for the study was the DNA samples of Balkarians, mostly representatives of the sub-ethnos Chegem, isolated from the whole blood of unrelated individuals. 23 Y-STR were genotyped using the PowerPlex® Y23 system (Promega). The GeneMapper®ID software, version 3.0 (Life Technologies ™) was used to determine the size of fragments. Evolutionary trees were generated using Network 4.6. The analysis of the main components (SAR) is built in XLSTAT 2017 (www.xlstat.com). An analysis of the genetic diversity of the population of Balkarians living in the central part of the North Caucasus region was carried out according to data on Y-STR (Short tandem repeats). 13.6% of the population were referred to the haplogroup R1b-M343, of which 11.5% to one of its branches is R1b-M478. We performed haplotyping of samples related to haplogroup R1b-M478. As a result of the construction of the median network, clustering of Balkarians with Megrelians and Karachais was shown, as well as their removal from other studied individuals, including Turkic-speaking Bashkirs, Tatars, and geographic neighbors-Kabardians. To assess the genetic relationship according to Y-STR between Balkarians and other populations studied, we analyzed the main components. According to the results of this analysis, the clustering of Balkarians, Karachais and Megrel has been preserved, which indicates their genetic relationship. DYS390 mutates at a very low rate and the absence of a microsatellite repeat equal to 22 outside the Caucasus, perhaps, speaks about its confinement to this region.

Keywords:Balkarians, Y-chromosome, Y-STR, median network, principal component analysis.