Abstract
The Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) and Ladakh in North India owing to their unique geographic location offer a wide variety of landscape from plains to high altitudes and is a congruence of many languages and cultural practices. Here, we present the genetic diversity studies of Gujjars from Jammu region of J&K and Ladakhi population based on a battery of autosomal single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and short tandem repeats (STRs), Y-chromosomal STRs and the control region of the mitochondrial genome. These two populations were observed to be genetically distant to each other as well as to other populations from India. Interestingly, Y-STR analyses showed a closer affinity of Gujjars to other nomadic populations of Pashtuns from Baghlans and Kunduz provinces of Afghanistan and Pashtuns and Sindhis of Pakistan. Gujjars exhibited lesser genetic diversity as compared to Ladakhi population. M30f and M9 were the most abundant mitochondrial haplogroups observed among Gujjars and Ladakhis, respectively. A lower matrilineal to patrilineal diversity was observed for both these populations. The current study presents the first comprehensive analysis of Gujjars and Ladakhis and reveals their unique genetic affiliations with other populations of the world.
Highlights
The Indian subcontinent, which represents about one-sixth of the world population, is a unique conglomerate of multiple cultures, languages and genetic diversity
Of the 275 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) shortlisted for the human identification (HID) purposes as described in our previous study, 21 SNPs which had failed Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (HWE) test were discarded and further analysis was based on 254 SNPs
The genetic affiliations between these populations was better visualized from the Principal Coordinate Analysis (PCoA) based on SNPs (Supplementary Fig. S2), wherein the GJ samples occupied a distant position from the rest of the samples on the plot
Summary
The Indian subcontinent, which represents about one-sixth of the world population, is a unique conglomerate of multiple cultures, languages and genetic diversity. In this study we have attempted to understand the genetic relationship of Gujjars (GJ) from Jammu region of J&K and Ladakhis (LL) with other populations of Indian subcontinent. Our previous studies based on analysis of autosomal STRs14 and Y-chromosomal STRs15 that included populations from J&K (JK) (other than GJ and LL populations), suggested that JK individuals were not genetically isolated from other populations of India This observation was in concordance with a previous report[16]. In the present study, based on the analysis of autosomal SNPs and STRs, Y-chromosomal STRs and control region of mtDNA, we sought to gain a broader picture of genetic diversity of Gujjars (GJ) and Ladakhis (LL) (Fig. 1). Gujjars exhibited lesser genetic diversity compared to Ladakhis, but both had showed lower matrilineal diversity as compared to patrilineal diversity which is suggestive of the patrilocal cultural practices in these groups
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
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 callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
