Genetic encapsulation among Near Eastern populations.

This report aims to genetically characterize the relationships between geographically targeted human populations covering an expanse from east sub-Saharan Africa northeastward into northern India with an emphasis on the Near East. A number of parameters of population genetics interest were examined based on allele frequencies from 15 forensic autosomal STR markers [D8S1179, D21S11, D7S820, CSF1PO, D3S1358, TH01, D13S317, D16S539, D2S1338, D19S433, vWA, TPOX, D18S51, D5S818, and FGA]. The phylogenetic analyses generated from genetic profiles of 885 individuals indicate that populations west of and including Iran have experienced substantial gene flow. Accordingly, our findings delineate a region of genetic homogeneity concentrated within the Near East with increasing genetic differentiation moving south into Africa and further east into Asia. We suggest that the Saharan desert, the Hindu Kush mountain range and perhaps to a lesser extent, the deserts of Iran may have acted as southern, eastern and northern geographical barriers, respectively, forming a genetic enclosure that allows limited gene flow outside the Near East. The biparental genetic landscape supports a picture of close contact between the Arab and Persian populations, perhaps beginning during the initial settlement of Asia from Africa extending to recent times.