DNA diversity and population admixture in Anatolia

The Turkic language was introduced in Anatolia at the start of this millenn ium, by nomadic Turk-men groups from Central Asia. Whether that cultural tr ansition also had significant population-genetics consequences is not fully understood. Three nuclear microsatellite loci, the hypervariable region I of the mitochondrial genome, six microsatellite loci of the Y chromosome, a nd one Alu insertion (YAP) were amplified and typed in 118 individuals from four populations of Anatolia. For each locus, the number of chromosomes co nsidered varied between 51-200. Genetic variation was large within samples, and much less so between them. The contribution of Central Asian genes to the current Anatolian gene pool was quantified using three different method s, considering for comparison populations of Mediterranean Europe, and Turk ic-speaking populations of Central Asia. The most reliable estimates sugges t roughly 30% Central Asian admixture for both mitochondrial and Y-chromoso me loci. That (admittedly approximate) figure is compatible both with a sub stantial immigration accompanying the arrival of the Turkmen armies (which is not historically documented), and with continuous gene flow from Asia in to Anatolia, at a rate of 1% for 40 generations. Because a military invasio n is expected to more deeply affect the male gene pool, similar estimates o f admixture for female- and male-transmitted traits are easier to reconcile with continuous migratory contacts between Anatolia and its Asian neighbor s, perhaps facilitated by the disappearance of a linguistic barrier between them. (C) 2001 Wiley-Liss, Inc.