Migration Waves to the Baltic Sea Region

2008/02/21 by Tuuli Lappalainen, Virpi H. Laitinen, Elina Salmela +4 · 7 citations
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · #Forensic and Genetic Research #Genetic diversity and population structure #Race, Genetics, and Society #Baltic sea #Haplogroup #Geography #Slavic languages #Mitochondrial DNA #Population #Gene pool #Human migration #Population genetics #Biology #Haplotype #Evolutionary biology #Genetic diversity #Genetics #Demography #Genotype #Geology #Oceanography #Gene #History

paper · doi:10.1111/j.1469-1809.2007.00429.x

openalex publication_date 2008/02/21 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/01

Abstract

In this study, the population history of the Baltic Sea region, known to be affected by a variety of migrations and genetic barriers, was analyzed using both mitochondrial DNA and Y-chromosomal data. Over 1200 samples from Finland, Sweden, Karelia, Estonia, Setoland, Latvia and Lithuania were genotyped for 18 Y-chromosomal biallelic polymorphisms and 9 STRs, in addition to analyzing 17 coding region polymorphisms and the HVS1 region from the mtDNA. It was shown that the populations surrounding the Baltic Sea are genetically similar, which suggests that it has been an important route not only for cultural transmission but also for population migration. However, many of the migrations affecting the area from Central Europe, the Volga-Ural region and from Slavic populations have had a quantitatively different impact on the populations, and, furthermore, the effects of genetic drift have increased the differences between populations especially in the north. The possible explanations for the high frequencies of several haplogroups with an origin in the Iberian refugia (H1, U5b, I1a) are also discussed.

Citations

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• The Molecular Dissection of mtDNA Haplogroup H Confirms That the Franco-Cantabrian Glacial Refuge Was a Major Source for the European Gene Pool

Cited by

• Generation of high-resolution a priori Y-chromosome phylogenies using “next-generation” sequencing data
• Human Y Chromosome Haplogroup N: A Non-trivial Time-Resolved Phylogeography that Cuts across Language Families
• Population Structure in Contemporary Sweden—A Y‐Chromosomal and Mitochondrial DNA Analysis
• Reconstructing the Indian Origin and Dispersal of the European Roma: A Maternal Genetic Perspective
• A Comparative Analysis of Chinese Historical Sources and y-dna Studies with Regard to the Early and Medieval Turkic Peoples
• Haplogroup L-M20 [wikipedia]
• Haplogroup N-M231 [wikipedia]