engleski

Genetic structure of Croatian Roma populations – multilocus analysis

Background: The Roma are a widely dispersed transnational ethnic group with an estimated size of 7 to 9 million in Europe. Although the common Indian origin of the Roma populations is undisputed, it is still unclear how the arrival routes and migration patterns while in Europe affected their genetic structure. In order to establish possible differences in the genetic structure of different socio-cultural categories of Romani groups who inhabit a relatively small geographic area we analysed Romani individuals from Croatia, members of two major migration categories: Balkan and Vlax. Vlax Roma samples comprise individuals from two different linguistic groups (Munteni and Ardeleni). Methods: 15 autosomal, 7 X-STR and 17 Y-STR loci were analysed using PCR based fragmental analysis. Biallelic uniparental markers were detected using either PCR based RFLP assays or sequencing. Intra- and inter- population structure was analysed using appropriate statistical software. Results: Most of the analysed loci show the lowest intra population structure parameters in the population of Ardeleni Vlax Roma, what is in concordance with the data on endogamy between various Roma groups. Interestingly, parameters of interpopulation structure indicate higher amount of gene flow between Munteni Vlax and Balkan Roma than between Vlax Roma groups mutually. Conclusions: Genetic structure of the Roma in Croatia is marked by different intensity and sources of admixture, accompanied by genetic drift, as a result of their pronouncedsocio-cultural differences.

Roma; STR; founder effect

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