Abstract
We studied the Y-chromosome pool of the ethnic Russian population of Novgorod oblast (Russia) by 49 SNP and 17 STR markers. The total sample (N = 191) consists of four populations of the Novgorod region, including its southwestern (Shelon Pyatina) and eastern (Bezhetsk Pyatina) parts. Altogether, these four populations represent both the area of the Sopki archaeological culture (supposedly linked with the Novgorod Slovens tribe known from the chronicles) and the area of the Long Barrows culture (supposedly linked with the Krivichi Slavic tribe or with Balts). The pronounced genetic differences between southern and northern Russian populations are well known from previous studies; however, the Novgorod gene pool turned out to be neither northern nor southern, but a representative of the intermediate buffer zone. This zone was identified in this study and included a set of regional Russian populations from Pskov in the west to Kostroma in the east. All four studied populations of Novgorod region are genetically similar. The minor differences among them might represent the medieval Slavic migrations along the rivers, which survived despite the massive demographic shifts during the following history. Haplogroup N3 comprises one-fifth of the Novgorod pool of paternal lineages, with conditionally “Finnic” N3a4 and conditionally “East Baltic Sea Coast” N3a3 clades being almost equally frequent. The N3a3 phylogenetic network revealed the specific “Balto-Slavic” cluster of STR haplotypes, which is frequent in Baltic-speaking Lithuanians but infrequent in Finno-Ugric speaking Estonians. The Novgorod haplotypes lie outside this cluster, indicating that the Novgorod population received both N3a3 and N3a4 from Finno-Ugric speaking populations of the region, which, in turn, acquired the Mesolithic gene pool of the Northeastern Europe.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Explore related subjects
Discover the latest articles and news from researchers in related subjects, suggested using machine learning.References
Balanovskaya, E.V. and Balanovskii, O.P., Russkii genofond na Russkoi ravnine (The Russian Gene Pool of the Russian Plain), Moscow: Luch, 2007.
Balanovskaya, E.V., Balanovskii, O.P., Spitsyn, V.A., et al., The Russian gene pool: gene geography of serum gene markers (HP, GC, PI, and TF), Russ. J. Genet., 2001, vol. 37, no. 8, pp. 939–950. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1016738002424.
Balanovskaya, E.V., Balanovskii, O.P., Spitsyn, V.A., et al., The Russian gene pool: gene geography of erythrocytic gene markers (ACP1, PGM1, ESD, GLO1, and 6-PGD), Russ. J. Genet., 2001, vol. 37, no. 8, pp. 951–963. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1016790019262.
Fechner, A., Quinque, D., Rychkov, S., et al., Boundaries and clines in the west Eurasian Y-chromosome landscape: insights from the European part of Russia, Am. J. Phys. Anthropol., 2008, vol. 137, pp. 41–47. doi 10.1002/ajpa.20838
Balanovskaya, E.V., Pezhemskii, D.V., Romanov, A.G., et al., Genepool of the Russian North: Slavs? Finns? Paleo-European?, Vestn. Mosk. Univ., Ser. 23: Anthropol., 2011, no. 3, pp. 27–58.
Morozova, I., Evsyukov, A., Kon’kov, A., et al., Russian ethnic history inferred from mitochondrial DNA diversity, Am. J. Phys. Anthropol., 2012, vol. 147, pp. 341–351. doi 10.1002/ajpa.21649
Kushniarevich, A., Utevska, O., Chuhryaeva, M., et al., Genetic heritage of the Balto-Slavic speaking populations: a synthesis of autosomal, mitochondrial and Y-chromosomal data, PLoS One, 2015, vol. 10, e0135820. doi 10.1371/journal.pone.0135820
Goncharova, N.N., Anthropology of the Novgorod Slavs and their genetic connections, Extended Abstract of Cand. Sci. Dissertation, Moscow, 1995.
Sankina, S.L., Etnicheskaya istoriya srednevekovogo naseleniya Novgorodskoi zemli (Ethnic History of the Medieval Population of the Novgorod Land), St. Petersburg: Dmitrii Bulanin, 2000.
Platonov, S.F., Smutnoe vremya: ocherk istorii vnutrennego krizisa i obshchestvennoi bor’by v Moskovskom gosudarstve XVI i XVII vekov (The Time of Troubles: A Historical Study of the Internal Crisis and Social Struggle in 16th- and 17th-Century), in Sobraniye sochineniy po russkoy istorii (Collection of Works on Russian History), St. Petersburg: Stroilespechat’, 1994, vol. 2.
Besedin, G.I., To the question of the blood group distribution among Russians, Russ. Antropol., 1927, vol. 16, p. 28.
Bunak, V.V., Gene geographic regions of Eastern Europe as revealed with ABO blood factors, Vopr. Antropol., 1969, vol. 32, pp. 6–28.
Spitsyn, V.A., Kukhkhoizer, V., Makarov, S.V., et al., The Russian gene pool: frequencies of genetic markers, Russ. J. Genet., 2001, vol. 37, no. 3, pp. 302–304. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1009017428779.
Limborskaya, S.L., Khusnutdinova, E.K., and Balanovskaya, E.V., Etnogenomika i genogeografiya narodov Vostochnoi Evropy (Ethnogenomics and Gene Geography of the Peoples of Eastern Europe), Moscow: Nauka, 2002.
Lunkina, A.B., Denisova, G.A., Derenko, M.V., and Malyarchuk, B.A., Mitochondrial DNA variation in two Russian populations from Novgorod oblast, Russ. J. Genet., 2004, vol. 40, no. 7, pp. 795–799. https://doi.org/10.1134/S0026893310030064.
Grzybowski, T., Malyarchuk, B.A., Derenko, M.V., et al., Complex interactions of the Eastern and Western Slavic populations with other European groups as revealed by mitochondrial DNA analysis, Forensic Sci. Int. Genet., 2007, no. 1, pp. 141–147. doi 10.1016/j.fsigen. 2007.01.010
Malyarchuk, B., Derenko, M., Grzybowski, T., et al., Differentiation of mitochondrial DNA and Y-chromosomes in Russian populations, Hum. Biol., 2004, vol. 76, pp. 877–900. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15974299.
Kozlov, S.A., The structure of the gene pool of the population of the Russian North revealed by autosomal data, 2017. http://xn–c1acc6aafa1c.xn–p1ai/?page_ id=21325.
Wong, E.H.M., Khrunin, A., Nichols, L., et al., Reconstructing genetic history of Siberian and northeastern European populations, 2015. http://biorxiv.org. doi 10.1101/029421.10.1101/029421
Malyarchuk, B.A. and Derenko, M.V., Gene pool structure of Russian populations from the European part of Russia inferred from the data on Y chromosome haplogroups distribution, Russ. J. Genet., 2008, vol. 44, no. 2, pp. 187–192. https://doi.org/10.1134/S1022795408020105.
Roewer, L., Willuweit, S., Krüger, C., et al., Analysis of Y chromosome STR haplotypes in the European part of Russia reveals high diversities but non-significant genetic distances between populations, Int. J. Legal. Med., 2008, vol. 122, pp. 219–223. doi 10.1007/s00414- 007-0222-2
Balanovsky, O., Rootsi, S., Pshenichnov, A., et al., Two sources of the Russian patrilineal heritage in their Eurasian context, Am. J. Hum. Genet., 2008, vol. 82, no. 1, pp. 236–250. doi 10.1016/j.ajhg.2007.09.019
Balanovskaya, E.V., Zhabagin, M.K., Agdzhoyan, A.T., et al., Population biobanks: Organizational models and prospects of application in gene geography and personalized medicine, Russ. J. Genet., 2016, vol. 52, no. 12, pp. 1227–1243. https://doi.org/10.1134/S1022795416120024.
Ilumae, A., Reidla, M., Chukhryaeva, M., et al., Human Y chromosome haplogroup N: a non-trivial time-resolved phylogeography that cuts across Language Families, Am. J. Hum. Genet., 2016, vol. 99, pp. 163–173. doi 10.1016/j.ajhg.2016.05.025
Koshel’, S.M., Geoinformation technologies in gene geography, in Sovremennaya geograficheskaya kartografiya (Modern Geographical Cartography), Moscow: Data +, 2012, pp. 158–166.
Balanovsky, O., Dibirova, K., Dybo, A., et al., Parallel evolution of genes and languages in the Caucasus region, Mol. Biol. Evol., 2011, vol. 28, pp. 2905–2920. doi 10.1093/molbev/msr126
Nei, M., Molecular population genetics and evolution, Front. Biol., 1975, vol. 40, pp. 1–288. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1228006.
StatSoft Russia, 2016.
Forster, P., Harding, R., Torroni, A., and Bandelt, H., Origin and evolution of native American mtDNA variation: a reappraisal, Am. J. Hum. Genet., 1996, vol. 59, pp. 935–945.
Fenner, J.N., Cross-cultural estimation of the human generation interval for use in genetics-based population divergence studies, Am. J. Phys. Anthropol., 2005, vol. 423, pp. 415–423.
Burgarella, C. and Navascue, M., Mutation rate estimates for 110 Y-chromosome STRs combining population and father—son pair data, Eur. J. Hum. Genet., 2011, vol. 19, pp. 70–75. doi 10.1038/ejhg.2010.154
STR haplotypes database of Y-chromosome. http://www.yhrd.org.
Karmin, M., Saag, L., Vicente, M., et al., A recent bottleneck of Y chromosome diversity coincides with a global change in culture, Genome Res., 2015, vol. 25, pp. 459–466. doi 10.1101/gr.186684.114
Balanovsky, O., Zhabagin, M., Agdzhoyan, A., et al., Deep phylogenetic analysis of haplogroup G1 provides estimates of SNP and STR mutation rates on the human Y-chromosome and reveals migrations of Iranic speakers, PLoS One, 2015, vol. 10, no. 4. doi 10.1371/journal.pone.0122968
Hallast, P., Batini, C., Zadik, D., et al., The Y-chromosome tree bursts into leaf: 13,000 high-confidence SNPs covering the majority of known clades, Mol. Biol. Evol., 2014, vol. 32, pp. 661–673.
Chukhryaeva, M.I., Pavlova, E.S., Napol’skikh, V.V., et al., Is there a Finno-Ugric component in the gene pool of Russians from Yaroslavl oblast? Evidence from Y-chromosome, Russ. J. Genet., 2017, vol. 53, no. 3, pp. 388–399. https://doi.org/10.1134/S1022795417030048.
YFull Y-chromosomal tree v5.02. https://www.yfull.com/tree/. Accessed April 4, 2017.
Khrunin, A.V., Bebyakova, N.A., Ivanov, V.P., et al., Polymorphism of Y-chromosomal microsatellites in Russian populations from the northern and southern Russia as exemplified by the populations of Kursk and Arkhangelsk oblast, Russ. J. Genet., 2005, vol. 41, no. 8, pp. 922–927.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Original Russian Text © E.V. Balanovska, A.T. Agdzhoyan, R.A. Skhalyakho, O.A. Balaganskaya, G.S. Freydin, K.G. Chernevskii, D.K. Chernevskii, G.D. Stepanov, Z.A. Kagazezheva, V.V. Zaporozhchenko, N.V. Markina, D. Palipana, S.M. Koshel, S.A. Kozlov, O.P. Balanovsky, 2017, published in Genetika, 2017, Vol. 53, No. 11, pp. 1338–1348.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Balanovska, E.V., Agdzhoyan, A.T., Skhalyakho, R.A. et al. Gene pool of the Novgorod population: Between the north and the south. Russ J Genet 53, 1259–1271 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1134/S1022795417110023
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S1022795417110023