Icelandic C1 distinct from Amerindian and Asian subclades

A new subclade of mtDNA haplogroup C1 found in icelanders: Evidence of pre-columbian contact?
Although most mtDNA lineages observed in contemporary Icelanders can be traced to neighboring populations in the British Isles and Scandinavia, one may have a more distant origin. This lineage belongs to haplogroup C1, one of a handful that was involved in the settlement of the Americas around 14,000 years ago. Contrary to an initial assumption that this lineage was a recent arrival, preliminary genealogical analyses revealed that the C1 lineage was present in the Icelandic mtDNA pool at least 300 years ago. This raised the intriguing possibility that the Icelandic C1 lineage could be traced to Viking voyages to the Americas that commenced in the 10th century. In an attempt to shed further light on the entry date of the C1 lineage into the Icelandic mtDNA pool and its geographical origin, we used the deCODE Genetics genealogical database to identify additional matrilineal ancestors that carry the C1 lineage and then sequenced the complete mtDNA genome of 11 contemporary C1 carriers from four different matrilines. Our results indicate a latest possible arrival date in Iceland of just prior to 1700 and a likely arrival date centuries earlier. Most surprisingly, we demonstrate that the Icelandic C1 lineage does not belong to any of the four known Native American (C1b, C1c, and C1d) or Asian (C1a) subclades of haplogroup C1. Rather, it is presently the only known member of a new subclade, C1e. While a Native American origin seems most likely for C1e, an Asian or European origin cannot be ruled out. Am J Phys Anthropol, 2010.
The logic and evidence behind the authors' assertion that "a Native American origin seems most likely" is wanting; I find it much more likely C1 entered Iceland via Europe. Scientists will need to look elsewhere to explain Björk.
The 11 mutations that differentiate the Icelandic C1 sequences from the C1 root are in the upper range of mutation counts that differentiate the other C1 sequences from the root. [. . .]

A simple [polite way of saying retarded] argument in favor of a Native American origin of C1e is the fact that three of the four previously characterized C1 subclades are associated with these groups and the vast majority of C1 sequences in the literature have been sampled from individuals of Native American ancestry. [. . .]

The German sequence (Pfeiffer et al., 2001) represents a perfect match to the Icelandic C1e for the short HVS1 fragment spanning sites 16024–16365. This raises the intriguing, but perhaps unlikely, hypothesis that C1e is a European-specific subclade of C1, following the precedent of the European and Native American subclades of mtDNA haplogroup X2 (Brown et al., 1998; Reidla et al., 2003). However, given the dense sampling of mtDNA variation in European populations, it is clear that C1e is exceedingly rare, a fact that weighs against a hypothesis of antiquity in Europe.
The frequency of C1 in a sample of 1538 Icelandic mtDNA sequences was 0.26%. Coincidentally, another abstract that recently appeared in PubMed is that of a Russian publication reporting:
The role of natural selection in the evolution of human populations from Northeastern Eurasia was studied. Selection for the regions-specific haplogroup C was demonstrated.

4 comments:

Hail said...

Scientists will need to look elsewhere to explain Björk.

She makes herself look more "alien" than she is, to stand-out more. Neither of her parents look too out of the ordinary.

In her childhood photos, she fits in the East-Baltid spectrum [Racial-Europeans with Lappid admixture], rather than looking like a flat-out Eskimo.

Her phenotype is most likely a simple genetic-recombination of a weak Lappid strain carried over from Norway long ago.

~5% of Norwegians are East-Baltid, according to McCulloch, which means pure-Lappid genes could account for ~1% of the Norwegian gene pool. So a "Bjoerk" is bound to come around every now and then, the law of random recombination tells us.

Anonymous said...

Bjork has epicanthic folds and a general quasi-Mongoloid appearance. Whether this is from admixture, a genetic disorder or convergent evolution of some Eastern European groups is curious. Phenotypically at least some European-Mongoloid hybrids look less Mongoloid than she does, such as Sarah Palin's husband and their children.

Anonymous said...

Anon, the link you hosted to turns up a "no hotlinking" image.

I rehosted it.

There is no denying that Bjoerk is an extreme phenotypic outlier. She looks more Lappid than most modern Lapps. I maintain that it can be explained by random recombination from low-level Lappoid strains from both parents. (See here for an anthropological treatment of Bjoerk).

Bjoerk and daughter.

Todd Palin is only 1/8th Eskimo.

Anonymous said...

"Only 1/8th Eskimo" is a curious statement. Would you also say someone is "only 1/8th Negro?"

Historically in America 1/8th Amerindian was considered non-White.

Jessica Alba is approximately 1/8th Amerindian, perhaps she is White to you. That's a very Latin standard.