Abstract
Widely considered as one of the cradles of human civilization, Mesopotamia is largely situated in the Republic of Iraq, which is also the birthplace of the Sumerian, Akkadian, Assyrian and Babylonian civilizations. These lands were subsequently ruled by the Persians, Greeks, Romans, Arabs, Mongolians, Ottomans and finally British prior to the independence. As a direct consequence of this rich history, the contemporary Iraqi population comprises a true mosaic of different ethnicities, which includes Arabs, Kurds, Turkmens, Assyrians, and Yazidis among others. As such, the genetics of the contemporary Iraqi populations are of anthropological and forensic interest. In an effort to contribute to a better understanding of the genetic basis of this ethnic diversity, a total of 500 samples were collected from Northern Iraqi volunteers belonging to five major ethnic groups, namely: Arabs (n = 102), Kurds (n = 104), Turkmens (n = 102), Yazidis (n = 106) and Syriacs (n = 86). 17-loci Y-STR analyses were carried out using the AmpFlSTR Yfiler system, and subsequently in silico haplogroup assignments were made to gain insights from a molecular anthropology perspective. Systematic comparisons of the paternal lineages of these five Northern Iraqi ethnic groups, not only among themselves but also in the context of the larger genetic landscape of the Near East and beyond, were then made through the use of two different genetic distance metric measures and the associated data visualization methods. Taken together, results from the current study suggested the presence of intricate Y-chromosomal lineage patterns among the five ethic groups analyzed, wherein both interconnectivity and independent microvariation were observed in parallel, albeit in a differential manner. Notably, the novel Y-STR data on Turkmens, Syriacs and Yazidis from Northern Iraq constitute the first of its kind in the literature. Data presented herein is expected to contribute to further population and forensic investigations in Northern Iraq in particular and the Near East in general.
Highlights
Often considered as one of the cradles of human civilization, Mesopotamia encompasses the ancient fertile lands defined by the Tigris and Euphrates river systems
Among the Northern Iraqi populations, Arabs are regarded as a panethnicity that largely adhere to different sects of Islam and native to an immense geography spanning from the Atlantic coast of North Africa to the Horn of Africa in the East, as well as the entire Arabian Peninsula and a large portion of the Near East
A combined Y-chromosomal short tandem repeat markers (Y-STRs) dataset with 500 haplotype from the Northern Iraq populations was generated (S1 Table), wherein there were 360 different and 280 unique haplotypes, yielding unique haplotypes (UH) of 56.0% and a discrimination capacity (DC) of 72.0% for the entire dataset
Summary
Often considered as one of the cradles of human civilization, Mesopotamia encompasses the ancient fertile lands defined by the Tigris and Euphrates river systems Today, these lands are largely situated in Iraq, which shares borders with Jordan to the west, Syria to the north-west, Turkey to the north, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia to the south and Iran to the east (Fig 1). Syriacs, known as Assyrians, Chaldeans and Arameans are an ethnoreligious group native to Middle East, largely inhabiting a region from across modern Syria, Iraq and Iran. Syriacs are an indigenous ethnic group of Modern Iraq, and are known to inhabit major cities, as well as in the mountainous regions to the east of Mosul, near Dohuk and Akra [8]. Recent estimates suggest that there are 133,000 Assyrians in Iraq, or less than 1% of total population [9]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
