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Genetic connections among T urkic‐speaking Iranian ethnic groups based on HLA class II gene diversity
Author(s) -
Farjadian S.,
Safi S.
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
international journal of immunogenetics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.41
H-Index - 47
eISSN - 1744-313X
pISSN - 1744-3121
DOI - 10.1111/iji.12066
Subject(s) - phylogenetic tree , allele , human leukocyte antigen , ethnic group , clade , genetic diversity , genetics , biology , gene , diversity (politics) , evolutionary biology , demography , sociology , antigen , population , anthropology
Summary Iran is a linguistically heterogeneous nation where P ersian, T urkic and A rabic are the three main language families spoken. Based on their linguistic properties, Q ashqais, T urkmens and A zeris are T urkic‐speaking people. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether any genetic relationship exists among the T urkic‐speaking Iranian subpopulations based on HLA class II gene diversity. HLA ‐ DRB 1, DQA 1 and DQB 1 alleles were identified by PCR ‐based methods in 100 Q ashqais and 66 T urkmens, and the results were compared with our previously published HLA data for A zeris. Despite a number of allelic and haplotypic similarities, Q ashqais, T urkmens and A zeris were not in the same clade of the phylogenetic tree. However, based on the results of principal coordinates analysis, they are grouped together with K urds and B akhtiaris. Contrary to their common linguistic features, the T urkic‐speaking people of Iran are closer to other Iranian subpopulations than to the people of T urkey and central A sia. Overall, it seems that linguistic criteria alone are not able to determine the relationships among these populations, and a combination of different kinds of anthropological information should be used to determine their actual phylogenetic relationships.