The study of the genetic origins and history of Bedouin populations is important both for questio... more The study of the genetic origins and history of Bedouin populations is important both for questions relating to early Arab ancestry and for understanding the settlement of the Arabian Peninsula and Persian Gulf. There is historical agreement that Arab and Bedouin tribal populations share a common paternal ancestor of either Adnan or Qahtan (Joktan). To investigate the origin of paternal lineages of Bedouin populations, 153 Y chromosomes representing six tribes (three Adnani, three Qahtani (Joktani)) were analyzed hierarchically with a set of 97 Single-Nucleotide Polymorphic (SNP) markers and a 17 Y-STR multiplex. 83% of the Y chromosomes belong to Haplogroup J and the rest are distributed among R, G and E. Our Y-STR results show that diversities are generally low within the six Bedouin tribes, possibly reflecting genetic drift. Based on both the Y-chromosomal haplogroups and results of YSTR analysis, we observed clustering of the Bedouin populations with other Arabs, but statistically-significant genetic differentiation between several of the six populations.
Bedouin are traditionally nomadic inhabitants of the Persian Gulf who claim descent from two male... more Bedouin are traditionally nomadic inhabitants of the Persian Gulf who claim descent from two male lineages: Adnani and Qahtani. We have investigated whether or not this tradition is reflected in the current genetic structure of a sample of 153 Bedouin males from six Kuwaiti tribes, including three tribes from each traditional lineage. Volunteers were genotyped using a panel of autosomal and Y-STRs, and Y-SNPs. The samples clustered with their geographical neighbours in both the autosomal and Y-chromosomal analyses, and showed strong evidence of genetic isolation and drift. Whilst there was no evidence of segregation into the two male lineages, other aspects of genetic structure were in accord with tradition.
Lactase persistence (LP)-the ability to digest lactose in adulthood-is paradigmatic of Holocenic ... more Lactase persistence (LP)-the ability to digest lactose in adulthood-is paradigmatic of Holocenic dietary change affecting the evolutionary trajectory of specific populations. Kuwait represents one location of high LP where the variation in associated genomic regions has not been examined. Here, we present new sequence data from a 427 bp amplicon 14 kb upstream of the LCT (lactase) gene for two Bedouin tribal populations, the Ajman and Mutran. We estimate the frequency of known LP associated alleles and discuss the impact of nomadic-pastoralism on the associated genetic variation. We observe high frequency (56% on average) of the -13,915*G allele in both tribes, which is consistent with the high prevalence of LP in Kuwait. Whilst LP associated alleles occur in Kuwait at a similar frequency to other regional populations, we suggest that the -13,915*G allele frequency among the Kuwaiti Bedouin may be higher than among non-Bedouin Kuwaitis, possibly due to greater historical reliance on milk consumption or genetic drift.
The study of the genetic origins and history of Bedouin populations is important both for questio... more The study of the genetic origins and history of Bedouin populations is important both for questions relating to early Arab ancestry and for understanding the settlement of the Arabian Peninsula and Persian Gulf. There is historical agreement that Arab and Bedouin tribal populations share a common paternal ancestor of either Adnan or Qahtan (Joktan). To investigate the origin of paternal lineages of Bedouin populations, 153 Y chromosomes representing six tribes (three Adnani, three Qahtani (Joktani)) were analyzed hierarchically with a set of 97 Single-Nucleotide Polymorphic (SNP) markers and a 17 Y-STR multiplex. 83% of the Y chromosomes belong to Haplogroup J and the rest are distributed among R, G and E. Our Y-STR results show that diversities are generally low within the six Bedouin tribes, possibly reflecting genetic drift. Based on both the Y-chromosomal haplogroups and results of YSTR analysis, we observed clustering of the Bedouin populations with other Arabs, but statistically-significant genetic differentiation between several of the six populations.
Bedouin are traditionally nomadic inhabitants of the Persian Gulf who claim descent from two male... more Bedouin are traditionally nomadic inhabitants of the Persian Gulf who claim descent from two male lineages: Adnani and Qahtani. We have investigated whether or not this tradition is reflected in the current genetic structure of a sample of 153 Bedouin males from six Kuwaiti tribes, including three tribes from each traditional lineage. Volunteers were genotyped using a panel of autosomal and Y-STRs, and Y-SNPs. The samples clustered with their geographical neighbours in both the autosomal and Y-chromosomal analyses, and showed strong evidence of genetic isolation and drift. Whilst there was no evidence of segregation into the two male lineages, other aspects of genetic structure were in accord with tradition.
Lactase persistence (LP)-the ability to digest lactose in adulthood-is paradigmatic of Holocenic ... more Lactase persistence (LP)-the ability to digest lactose in adulthood-is paradigmatic of Holocenic dietary change affecting the evolutionary trajectory of specific populations. Kuwait represents one location of high LP where the variation in associated genomic regions has not been examined. Here, we present new sequence data from a 427 bp amplicon 14 kb upstream of the LCT (lactase) gene for two Bedouin tribal populations, the Ajman and Mutran. We estimate the frequency of known LP associated alleles and discuss the impact of nomadic-pastoralism on the associated genetic variation. We observe high frequency (56% on average) of the -13,915*G allele in both tribes, which is consistent with the high prevalence of LP in Kuwait. Whilst LP associated alleles occur in Kuwait at a similar frequency to other regional populations, we suggest that the -13,915*G allele frequency among the Kuwaiti Bedouin may be higher than among non-Bedouin Kuwaitis, possibly due to greater historical reliance on milk consumption or genetic drift.
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Papers by Talal Mohammad