Department of Genetics, University of Leicester, Leicester, United Kingdom.
PLoS Biol. 2010 Jan 19;8(1):e1000285. doi: 10.1371/journal.pbio.1000285.
The relative contributions to modern European populations of Paleolithic hunter-gatherers and Neolithic farmers from the Near East have been intensely debated. Haplogroup R1b1b2 (R-M269) is the commonest European Y-chromosomal lineage, increasing in frequency from east to west, and carried by 110 million European men. Previous studies suggested a Paleolithic origin, but here we show that the geographical distribution of its microsatellite diversity is best explained by spread from a single source in the Near East via Anatolia during the Neolithic. Taken with evidence on the origins of other haplogroups, this indicates that most European Y chromosomes originate in the Neolithic expansion. This reinterpretation makes Europe a prime example of how technological and cultural change is linked with the expansion of a Y-chromosomal lineage, and the contrast of this pattern with that shown by maternally inherited mitochondrial DNA suggests a unique role for males in the transition.
有关旧石器时代狩猎采集者和新石器时代来自近东地区的农民对现代欧洲人口的相对贡献一直存在激烈的争论。单倍群 R1b1b2（R-M269）是最常见的欧洲 Y 染色体谱系，频率从东向西增加，有 1.1 亿欧洲男性携带。先前的研究表明它起源于旧石器时代，但在这里我们表明，其微卫星多样性的地理分布最好通过新石器时代从近东单一来源通过安纳托利亚传播来解释。与其他单倍群起源的证据相结合，这表明大多数欧洲 Y 染色体起源于新石器时代的扩张。这种重新解释使欧洲成为技术和文化变革如何与 Y 染色体谱系的扩张相关联的主要范例，并且这种模式与母系遗传的线粒体 DNA 所显示的模式形成对比，表明男性在过渡中发挥了独特的作用。
