YAP, signature of an African-Middle Eastern migration into northern India

Abstract

YAP, an Alu insertion polymorphism found on human Y -chromosome is present in two lineages worldwide, corresponding to M 145/M203/SRY4064 (haplogroup E ) and M145/M203/M174 (haplogroup D) polymorphisms respectively. First lineage belonging to haplogroup D is specific to Japan and other Southeast Asian popul a-tions, while haplogroup E is confined to Sub -Saharan African, Middle Eastern and Southern European popul a-tions. In the present study, 1021 Y -chromosomes belon g-ing to nine different populations of North India were analysed for YAP insertion and four other single n u-cleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) to delineate the two lineages. Out of nine populations only one, i.e. Shiya Muslims revealed presence of YAP element at a fre-quency of 11%. Further analysis based on four add i-tional SNPs revealed that all the YAP+ve samples could be categorized under African/Middle East -specific haplogr oup E lineage. Interestingly, Sunni Muslims who historically have the same origin, i.e. from the Middle east showed a complete lack of YAP+ve lin e-age similar to other castes. We hypothesize that unlike Sunnis, Shiya Muslims due to their lesser number and less admixture with other caste groups of India, still carry the ancestral YAP+ve lineage, which in all probabil i-ties is one of the founder haplogroups. All Middle Eastern populations show the presence of this lineage in almost similar frequency. Our study shows the presence of YAP+ve lineage in North Indian popula-tions, reflecting an African/Middle Eastern migration into North India. T