The matrilineal ancestry of Ashkenazi Jewry: Portrait of a recent founder event

• Type: Article in International Scientific Journal
• Date: 2006

Authors

Behar, DM (Author) Other; Metspalu, E (Author) Other; Kivisild, T (Author) Other; Achilli, A (Author) Other; Hadid, Y (Author) Other; Tzur, S (Author) Other; Pereira, L (Author) Other; Amorim, A (Author) FCUP; Quintana Murci, L (Author) Other; Majamaa, K (Author) Other; Herrnstadt, C (Author) Other; Howell, N (Author) Other; Balanovsky, O (Author) Other; Kutuev, I (Author) Other; Pshenichnov, A (Author) Other; Gurwitz, D (Author) Other; Bonne Tamir, B (Author) Other; Torroni, A (Author) Other; Villems, R (Author) Other; Skorecki, K (Author) Other

Journal

Title: American Journal of Human Genetics

Vol. 78

Pages: 487-497

ISSN: 0002-9297

Publisher: Elsevier

Indexing

ISI Web of Knowledge - 131 Citations

Scopus - 123 Citations

Scientific classification

FOS: Natural sciences > Earth and related Environmental sciences

Other information

Authenticus ID: P-004-MTQ

DOI: 10.1086/500307

Abstract (EN): Both the extent and location of the maternal ancestral deme from which the Ashkenazi Jewry arose remain obscure. Here, using complete sequences of the maternally inherited mitochondrial DNA ( mtDNA), we show that close to one-half of Ashkenazi Jews, estimated at 8,000,000 people, can be traced back to only 4 women carrying distinct mtDNAs that are virtually absent in other populations, with the important exception of low frequencies among non-Ashkenazi Jews. We conclude that four founding mtDNAs, likely of Near Eastern ancestry, underwent major expansion(s) in Europe within the past millennium.

Language: English

Type (Professor's evaluation): Scientific

No. of pages: 11