Abstract
BackgroundIn the present study we have assessed whether the Carpathian Mountains represent a genetic barrier in East Europe. Therefore, we have analyzed the mtDNA of 128 native individuals of Romania: 62 of them from the North of Romania, and 66 from South Romania.ResultsWe have analyzed their mtDNA variability in the context of other European and Near Eastern populations through multivariate analyses. The results show that regarding the mtDNA haplogroup and haplotype distributions the Romanian groups living outside the Carpathian range (South Romania) displayed some degree of genetic differentiation compared to those living within the Carpahian range (North Romania).ConclusionThe main differentiation between the mtDNA variability of the groups from North and South Romania can be attributed to the demographic movements from East to West (prehistoric or historic) that differently affected in these regions, suggesting that the Carpathian mountain range represents a weak genetic barrier in South-East Europe.
Highlights
IntroductionAssessing the genetic structure of different populations is important for understanding the population history of a certain geographic area from a genetic point of view
In the present study we have assessed whether the Carpathian Mountains represent a genetic barrier in East Europe
The mitochondrial variability obtained in the population from the North of Romania (N = 62) was classified in 51 different sequences or haplotypes, which indicates a high degree of sequence diversity (0.9905 ± 0.0072) (Table 1 and Additional file 1)
Summary
Assessing the genetic structure of different populations is important for understanding the population history of a certain geographic area from a genetic point of view. Several historical events impacted the demography of Romanian populations inside and outside the Carpathian range In this regard, relatively little is known about potential differences in the Neolithic and the Bronze age, an impact of Celtic migration has been reported mainly in Transylvania (inside the Carpathian range), rather than in the planes East and South of the mountains [8]. In order to test the hypothesis that the Carpathian mountains represents a genetic barrier differentiating populations within Romania, we have assessed mtDNA distributions in Romanian populations from outside (South Romania) and within (North Romania) the Carpathian range (Figure 1)
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