Research Article

Reconstruction of patrilineages and matrilineages of Samaritans and other Israeli populations from Y-Chromosome and mitochondrial DNA sequence Variation†

  1. Peidong Shen1,
  2. Tal Lavi2,
  3. Toomas Kivisild3,
  4. Vivian Chou1,
  5. Deniz Sengun1,
  6. Dov Gefel4,
  7. Issac Shpirer5,
  8. Eilon Woolf2,
  9. Jossi Hillel2,
  10. Marcus W. Feldman6,*,
  11. Peter J. Oefner1

Article first published online: 28 JUL 2004

DOI: 10.1002/humu.20077

Issue

Human Mutation

Human Mutation

Volume 24, Issue 3, pages 248–260, September 2004

Additional Information

How to Cite

Shen, P., Lavi, T., Kivisild, T., Chou, V., Sengun, D., Gefel, D., Shpirer, I., Woolf, E., Hillel, J., Feldman, M. W. and Oefner, P. J. (2004), Reconstruction of patrilineages and matrilineages of Samaritans and other Israeli populations from Y-Chromosome and mitochondrial DNA sequence Variation. Hum. Mutat., 24: 248–260. doi: 10.1002/humu.20077

Author Information

  1. 1

    Stanford Genome Technology Center, Palo Alto, California

  2. 2

    Department of Genetics, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Quality Sciences, Rehovot, Israel

  3. 3

    Department of Evolutionary Biology, Tartu University, and Estonian Biocenter, Tartu, Estonia

  4. 4

    Department of Medicine-C, Barzilai Medical Center, Ashkelon, Israel

  5. 5

    Pulmonary Institute, Assaf Harofeh Medical Center, Zerifin, Israel

  6. 6

    Department of Biological Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, California

*Department of Biological Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305-5020

  1. †

    Communicated by Pui-Yan Kwok

Publication History

  1. Issue published online: 28 JUL 2004
  2. Article first published online: 28 JUL 2004
  3. Manuscript Accepted: 16 APR 2004
  4. Manuscript Received: 15 JAN 2004

Funded by

  • National Institutes of Health. Grant Number: GM28428

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Keywords:

  • Y-chromosome;
  • mitochondrial DNA;
  • Samaritan;
  • population genetics;
  • EIF1AY;
  • MTCYB

Abstract

The Samaritan community, which numbered more than a million in late Roman times and only 146 in 1917, numbers today about 640 people representing four large families. They are culturally different from both Jewish and non-Jewish populations in the Middle East and their origin remains a question of great interest. Genetic differences between the Samaritans and neighboring Jewish and non-Jewish populations are corroborated in the present study of 7,280 bp of nonrecombining Y-chromosome and 5,622 bp of coding and hypervariable segment I (HVS-I) mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequences. Comparative sequence analysis was carried out on 12 Samaritan Y-chromosome, and mtDNA samples from nine male and seven female Samaritans separated by at least two generations. In addition, 18–20 male individuals were analyzed, each representing Ethiopian, Ashkenazi, Iraqi, Libyan, Moroccan, and Yemenite Jews, as well as Druze and Palestinians, all currently living in Israel. The four Samaritan families clustered to four distinct Y-chromosome haplogroups according to their patrilineal identity. Of the 16 Samaritan mtDNA samples, 14 carry either of two mitochondrial haplotypes that are rare or absent among other worldwide ethnic groups. Principal component analysis suggests a common ancestry of Samaritan and Jewish patrilineages. Most of the former may be traced back to a common ancestor in the paternally-inherited Jewish high priesthood (Cohanim) at the time of the Assyrian conquest of the kingdom of Israel. Hum Mutat 24:248–260, 2004. © 2004 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

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