engleski

Genetic Structure of the Island of Rab Revealed by Mitochondrial DNA Analysis

The aim of this study was to determine genetic structure of the Croatian Adriatic Island of Rab population through analysis of mitochondrial DNA polymorphisms. Mitochondrial DNA variation was analyzed in a sample of 163 randomly chosen adults from 5 different towns and villages of the Island of Rab (Rab, Lopar, Barbat, Banjol, Supetarska Draga). The hypervariable segment I (HVS-I) of the control region of mtDNA was sequenced between nps 16024 and 16383 and together with RFLP sites diagnostic for main Eurasian haplogroups was analyzed in order to confirm the exact haplogroup affiliation of mtDNA HVS-I lineages. The analysis revealed the highest predominance of haplogroup H (36.8%), as in majority of European populations. Haplogroup U (32.5%) is the second most prevalent haplogroup in the investigated population. Subhaplogroup U5 (3.0%) has a decreased frequency comparing to Croatian mainland and other Island population. The most predominant subhaplogroup is U4 (24.5%), with much higher frequency than in other Croatian or European populations. Furthermore, the phylogenetic analysis showed very small number of haplotypes in most of the haplogroups in investigated population. All this findings, uniformity of haplotypes which can be seen in one or even more villages and very elevated frequency of subhaplogroup U4 confirm the effects of evolutionary forces, especially genetic drift caused by founder effect, which mediated a specific distribution of mtDNA haplogroups and shaped genetic structure in the isolated population of the Island of Rab.

isolated population; mitochondrial DNA; Island of Rab; genetic drift

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