Croatian Genetic Heritage: Renewed Y Chromosome Story a Decade Later
Aim To analyze additional set of Y-Chromosome genetic markers to acquire a more detailed insight into the diversity of the Croatian population. Methods The total number of 518 Yfiler™ Plus profiles was genotyped. Allele, haplotype frequencies and haplotype diversity, were calculated using the STRAF software package v2.0.4. Genetic distances were quantified by Rst using AMOVA online tool from the YHRD. The evolutionary history was inferred using the neighbor-joining method of phylogenetic tree construction in MEGAX software. Whit Athey’s Haplogroup Predictor v5 was used for additional comparison with selected European populations. Results The total of 507 haplotypes were used for genetic STR analysis. The interpopulation comparison with the original 27 Y-STR markers shows the lowest genetic diversity between Croatian and Serbian population, and the highest between Croatian and Spanish population. Interpopulation study on 17 Y-STR markers shows the lowest genetic diversity between Croatian and Bosnian-Herzegovinian population, and the highest between Croatian and Irish population. Total of 518 haplotypes were used in the determination of haplogroup diversity. Haplogroup I with its sublineage I2a expressed the highest prevalence. Haplogroup R, with its major sublineage R1a, is the second most abundant in the studied Croatian population, except for the subpopulation of Hvar, where E1b1b is the second most abundant haplogroup. Rare haplogroups also confirmed in this study are L, T and Q. G1 is detected for the very first time in Croatian population. Conclusion New insight into differences between examined subpopulations of Croatia and their possible (dis)similarities with neighboring abroad populations was notified.