MtDNA and the origin of the Icelanders: deciphering signals of recent population history.

ABSTRACT: Previous attempts to investigate the origin of the Icelanders have provided estimates of ancestry ranging from a 98% British Isles contribution to an 86% Scandinavian contribution. We generated mitochondrial sequence data for 401 Icelandic individuals and compared these data with >2,500 other European sequences from published sources, to determine the probable origins of women who contributed to Iceland's settlement. Although the mean number of base-pair differences is high in the Icelandic sequences and they are widely distributed in the overall European mtDNA phylogeny, we find a smaller number of distinct mitochondrial lineages, compared with most other European populations. The frequencies of a number of mtDNA lineages in the Icelanders deviate noticeably from those in neighboring popu

SUBMITTER: Helgason A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1288180 | biostudies-literature | 2000 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature