Association of The structure of the gene pool of the Tuvan tribal group Mongush according to data on Y-chromosome polymorphism

   In discussions about the origin of the largest tribal group of Tuvans, the Mongush (57 thousand people), two alternative hypotheses prevail. The «Mongolian» version traces their ethnogenesis back to the Mongols (or to the newcomer population from Central Asia). The «Turkic» hypothesis connects their origin with the local autochthonous population who switched to the Turkic language.

   The purpose of this work is to study the gene pool of two subgroups of the Mongush (central and western) using the detailed structure of the Y-chromosome and an enlarged sample, to determine the degree of their genetic similarity to each other, with the gene pools of other Tuvan tribal groups, populations of Southern Siberia and Mongolia.

   Genogeographic analysis of 187 individuals of 4 tribal groups of Tuvans (Mongush, Oorzhak, Khertek, Sat) using a panel of 60 SNP markers of the Y chromosome included the creation of distribution maps of the most informative haplogroups of the Y chromosome; calculation of genetic distances between the tribal groups of Tuvans and the population of Southern Siberia and Mongolia; creation of maps of genetic distances from each tribal group of Tuvans. In the gene pools of 4 Tuvan tribal groups, 46 informative Y-chromosome haplogroups were identified: «North Eurasian» N, Q; «Western Eurasian» R1a; «East Eurasian» C2, D, O; «other» R2a, R1b, J2. In all tribal groups, both «Western Eurasian» and «East Eurasian» haplogroups do not exceed 13-20% of the gene pool. «North Eurasian» haplogroups make up the bulk (60-63%) of the gene pools of all genera, but in different proportions. Haplogroup N is maximum in Oorzhak and Mongush (western) – 2/3 of the gene pool and 1/3 of the gene pool of the Mongush (central), Sat and Khertek tribal groups. The opposite trend is observed for haplogroup Q: 30 % of the gene pools are Sat and Khertek, 20 % Mongush (central), 7 % Oorzhak and Mongush (western). In the genetic space of Southern Siberia, Tuvan-Tofalar, Altai and Khakass clusters have been identified, demonstrating three ancestral sources of the gene pool of the region. The cartographic atlas revealed the similarity of the western and central Mongush with other Tuvan tribal groups, indicating the unity of origin of the four Tuvan tribal groups. The predominance of «North Eurasian» haplogroups N and Q in the gene pools of both groups of Mongush confirms the hypothesis of their formation on the Samoyed-Ket layer (VI-III YBC) and the «Turkic» hypothesis of ethnogenesis with an extremely weak influence of the Mongol-speaking component on Tuvan ethnicity.

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