Genetic Portraits of the Yakut Regional Populations (Based on Y-Chromosome Polymorphism Data)

We present data on SNP haplogroups and STR haplotypes of the Y-chromosome in main Yakut ethno-local populations. Clusters of STR haplotypes and median networks of principal haplogroup N3a2 (N-M1982) indicate three lines: N-M1983, N-M1933, and N-Y25011. The first one, widely distributed throughout Yakutia and present in one half of Yakut males, marks the putative descendants of Elley, the legendary progenitor of the Yakuts. Line N-M1933 is found where descendants of another legendary progenitor, Omogoy, live. The N-Y25011 line is frequent in the Vilyuy basin, where the Yakuts had migrated from the Middle Lena in the 1600s. The predominance of lines N-M1983 and N-Y25011 is less marked in the northeastern part of this region than in the southwestern one. The frequency of haplogroup N3a2 drops to 70 % in the Yakuts of the northeastern Vilyuy basin, northeastern Yakutia, and northeastern Khabarovsk Territory. The estimated time to the most recent common ancestor of Yakuts, marked by the N3a2 haplogroup, 1200 ± 480 years, shows a fair agreement with aDNA data. Samples of the Yakuts from Yakutia and the Okhotsk coast and of Sakha-speaking Evenki reveal a compact “Yakut” core area in the multidimensional genetic space of the Y-gene pools of Siberia and the Far East. This core is marked by an elevated frequency (68–95 %) of the N3a2 haplogroup, which is rare (0–21 %) in other populations of Siberia (Dolgans, Nanais, Negidals, Nivkhs, Tuvans, Ulchi, Evenki, and Evens). Regional Y-chromosome profiles are consistent with historical data regarding Yakut origins and legends.