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European Journal of Human Genetics (2011) 19, 334340 & 2011 Macmillan Publishers Limited All rights reserved 1018-4813/11 http://www.nature.com/ejhg
Web End =www.nature.com/ejhg
ARTICLE
Inuences of history, geography, and religion on genetic structure: the Maronites in Lebanon
Marc Haber1,8, Daniel E Platt2,8, Danielle A Badro1, Yali Xue3, Mirvat El-Sibai1, Maziar Ashraan Bonab4, Sonia C Youhanna1, Stephanie Saade1, David F Soria-Hernanz5,6, Ajay Royyuru2, R Spencer Wells5,Chris Tyler-Smith3, Pierre A Zalloua*,1,7, and The Genographic Consortium9
Cultural expansions, including of religions, frequently leave genetic traces of differentiation and in-migration. These expansions may be driven by complex doctrinal differentiation, together with major population migrations and gene ow. The aim of this study was to explore the genetic signature of the establishment of religious communities in a region where some of the most inuential religions originated, using the Y chromosome as an informative male-lineage marker. A total of 3139 samples were analyzed, including 647 Lebanese and Iranian samples newly genotyped for 28 binary markers and 19 short tandem repeats on the non-recombinant segment of the Y chromosome. Genetic organization was identied by geography and religion across Lebanon in the context of surrounding populations important in the expansions of the major sects of Lebanon, including Italy, Turkey, the Balkans, Syria, and Iran by employing principal component analysis, multidimensional scaling, and AMOVA. Timing of population differentiations was estimated using BATWING, in comparison with dates of historical religious eventsto determine if these differentiations could be caused by religious conversion, or rather, whether religious conversion was facilitated within already differentiated populations. Our analysis shows that the great religions in Lebanon were adopted within already distinguishable communities. Once religious afliations were established, subsequent genetic signatures of the older differentiations were reinforced. Post-establishment differentiations are most plausibly explained by migrations of peoples seeking refuge to avoid the turmoil of major historical events.
European Journal of Human Genetics (2011) 19, 334340; doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ejhg.2010.177
Web End =10.1038/ejhg.2010.177; published online 1 December 2010
Keywords: Y-chromosome; population genetics; human migrations; cultural diffusion; religion; Maronites
INTRODUCTIONThe Y-chromosomal haplogroup distribution in Lebanon, a small Eastern Mediterranean coastal country, shows a coastal-to-inland contrast likely marking post-glacial maximum expansions o20 thousand years ago, and signicant historical inuences.1 Historical expansions include the Phoenicians leaving a genetic footprint throughout the Mediterranean still detectable today.2 Subsequently, the region was subject...