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Mitochondrial DNA sequence diversity in three ethnic populations from the South-west Iran: a preliminary study

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Frontiers in Biology

Abstract

To investigate the genetic structure of human populations in the South-west region of Iran, mitochondrial first hypervariable DNA sequences were obtained from 50 individuals representing three different ethnic groups from Khuzestan Province. Studied groups were Shushtari Persians and Chahar Lang Bakhtiyaries from Indo-European-speaking populations and Bani Torof Arabs from Semitic-speaking linguistic families. Genetic analysis of mtDNA data showed high similarity of Chahar Lang Bakhtiyaries with other Iranian Indo-European-speaking populations while Shushtaries and Bani Torofs had a closer affinity with Semitic-speaking groups rather than to other Iranian populations. The relationship of Chahar Lang Bakhtiyaries and Bani Torof Arabs with their neighbor populations can be explained by linguistic and geographic proximity. Whereas, the greater similarity of Shushtari Persians with West Asian Arabs is probably according to high gene flow between them. This article represents a preliminary study of three major ethnic groups of South-west Iran which investigates the potential genetic substructure of the region.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Genetics, Shahid Chamran University, Ahvaz, 61357-43337, Iran

    Elham Davoudi-Dehaghani, Ali Mohammad Foroughmand, Hamid Galehdari & Somayeh Torfi

  2. Medical Genetics Department, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, 14155-6447, Iran

    Elham Davoudi-Dehaghani

  3. Human Genetic Research Group, Iranian Academic Center for Education, Culture & Research (ACECR), Fars Province Branch, Shiraz, 71347, Iran

    Babak Saffari

  4. National Institute for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, Tehran, 14155-6343, Iran

    Massoud Houshmand, Mehdi Shafa Shariat Panahi & Mohammad Hossein Sanati

  5. Hematology Research Center, School of Medicine, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, 71937, Iran

    Majid Yavarian

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  1. Elham Davoudi-Dehaghani
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  2. Ali Mohammad Foroughmand
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Correspondence to Elham Davoudi-Dehaghani.

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Davoudi-Dehaghani, E., Foroughmand, A.M., Saffari, B. et al. Mitochondrial DNA sequence diversity in three ethnic populations from the South-west Iran: a preliminary study. Front. Biol. 6, 422–432 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11515-011-1140-8

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