Abstract:
With a view to trace the Mongol expansion in Tuvinian gene
pool we studied two largest Tuvinian clans – those in which,
according to data of humanities, one could expect the highest
Central Asian ancestry, connected with the Mongol expansion.
Thus, the results of Central Asian ancestry in these two
clans component may be used as upper limit of the Mongol
influence upon the Tuvinian gene pool in a whole. According
to the data of 59 Y-chromosomal SNP markers, the haplogroup
spectra in these Tuvinian tribal groups (Mongush, N = 64,
and Oorzhak, N = 27) were similar. On average, two-thirds
of their gene pools (63 %) are composed by North Eurasian
haplogroups (N*, N1a2, N3a, Q) connected with autochtonous
populations of modern area of Tuvans. The Central Asian
haplogroups (C2, O2) composed less then fifth part (17 %)
of gene pools of the clans studied. The opposite ratio
was revealed in Mongols: there were 10 % North Eurasian
haplogroups and 75 % Central Asian haplogroups in their gene
pool. All the results derived – “genetic portraits”, the matrix of
genetic distances, the dendrogram and the multidimensional
scaling plot, which mirror the genetic connections between
Tuvinian clans and populations of South Siberia and East Asia,
demonstrated the prominent similarity of the Tuvinian gene
pools with populations from and Khakassia and Altai.
It could be therefore assumed that Tuvinian clans Mongush
and Oorzhak originated from autochtonous people
(supposedly, from the local Samoyed and Kets substrata). The
minor component of Central Asian haplogroups in the gene
pool of these clans allowed to suppose that Mongol expansion
did not have a significant influence upon the Tuvinan gene
pool at a whole.
