Doctoral Disssertation Improvement Grant: Analysis of Y-Chromosome Variation in Indigenous Altaian and Altaian Kazakh Populations

通过对西伯利亚土著居民的遗传分析，人们发现了许多关于人类在北方欧亚大陆殖民的新见解。 这项研究有助于重建史前人类群体在这一地区定居时的运动时间和方向，并描述了他们在文化和语言上彼此不同时发生的遗传多样化过程。 该项目将通过分析居住在西伯利亚原住民和美洲原住民假定家园的人群中的Y染色体变异来扩展以前的努力，以了解西伯利亚史前史。更具体地说，该项目将研究居住在俄罗斯阿尔泰共和国的几个民族的人口历史。 这将通过分析土著Chelkan，Tubular，Kumandin和Altai-kizhi族群以及阿尔泰哈萨克族的Y染色体变异来完成，并通过系统发育和统计方法将这些阿尔泰族群的数据与其他西伯利亚，东亚，中亚和新世界人群中观察到的数据进行比较。 由此产生的数据将有助于澄清西伯利亚阿尔泰-萨彦地区的历史，并阐明阿尔泰祖先在西伯利亚最初定居以及东亚和美洲人口中所扮演的角色。 这项研究将进一步探讨西伯利亚人口历史背景下蒙古语和突厥语人口扩张的遗传后果。这项研究将增加新的分子数据，这些数据来自采样不足的地点和土著人口，对于了解阿尔泰地区以及更普遍的西伯利亚人口历史非常重要。 这些信息对于了解美洲原住民的历史也很重要，因为人们知道，人类主要是通过西伯利亚进入北美的。 此外，该项目将探讨文化，语言和部落社会结构在塑造这些群体的遗传变异中可能发挥的作用。该项目中概述的Y染色体分析将有助于更大的研究，涉及几个独立的遗传系统和标记的分析，包括mtDNA，X染色体和许多常染色体SNP标记。 事实上，Matthew Dulik参与的阿尔泰人群mtDNA变异分析揭示了阿尔泰北方人群（Chelkan、Tubular、Kumandin）和阿尔泰南部人群（Altai-kizhi）之间的差异，以及每个北方阿尔泰人群之间的差异。 此外，线粒体DNA数据揭示了阿尔泰-萨彦地区与西伯利亚和东亚其他地区之间有趣的母系遗传联系。 预计Y染色体数据将进一步阐述这些模式，并提供了一个补充的观点男性遗传史在北方欧亚大陆。该项目的合作性质将极大地促进其参与者的学习经验，并扩大他们对西伯利亚，北欧亚大陆和北美历史的了解。 该项目涉及与美国，加拿大和俄罗斯的科学家合作，正在分析其他遗传标记，样本和人口统计数据。 这项研究为本科生和研究生提供了广泛的教育机会。

Many new insights into the human colonization of northern Eurasia have been discovered through the genetic analysis of indigenous populations of Siberia. This research has helped to reconstruct the timing and direction of the movements of prehistoric human groups as they settled this region, as well as characterize the process of genetic diversification that occurred as they became culturally and linguistically distinct from each other. This project will extend previous efforts to understand Siberian prehistory through the analysis of Y-chromosome variation in populations living in the putative homeland of both ancestral native Siberians and Native Americans. More specifically, this project will examine the population histories of several ethnic groups residing in the Altai Republic of Russia. This will be accomplished through the analysis of Y-chromosome variation in indigenous Chelkan, Tubular, Kumandin, and Altai-kizhi ethnic groups, as well as the Altaian Kazakhs, and the comparison of data from these Altaian groups with those observed in other native Siberian, East Asian, Central Asian and New World populations through phylogenetic and statistical methods. The resulting data will help to clarify the history of the Altai-Sayan region of Siberia, and elucidate the role played by ancestral Altaian populations in the initial settlement of Siberia, as well as the peopling of East Asia and the Americas. This study will further explore the genetic consequences of the expansions of populations speaking Mongolic and Turkic languages, in the context of Siberian population histories. This study will add new molecular data from under-sampled locations and indigenous populations that are important for understanding Altaian, and more generally, Siberian population history. Such information is also important for understanding Native American population history, since it is known that humans populated the New World largely by moving through Siberia and into North America. In addition, this project will explore the role that culture, language and tribal social structure may have played in shaping genetic variation in these groups. The Y-chromosome analysis outlined in this project will contribute to a larger study involving the analysis of several independent genetic systems and markers, including the mtDNA, the X-chromosome and numerous autosomal SNP markers. In fact, analyses of mtDNA variation in Altaian groups, in which Matthew Dulik has been involved, have revealed differences between northern (Chelkan, Tubular, Kumandin) and southern (Altai-kizhi) Altaian populations, as well as distinctions between each northern Altai group. Moreover, the mtDNA data reveal intriguing maternal genetic links between the Altai-Sayan region and other parts of Siberia and East Asia. It is anticipated that the Y-chromosome data will further elaborate these patterns, and also provide a complementary view of male genetic history in northern Eurasia. The collaborative nature of this project will greatly facilitate the learning experiences of its participants and enlarge their understanding of the history of Siberia, North Eurasia and North America. This project involves collaborations with scientists in the United States, Canada, and Russia, where other genetic markers, samples and demographic data are being analyzed. The educational opportunities provided by this study for undergraduate and graduate students are extensive.