Damba Larisa Dorzhuevna

Introduction. The Y-gene pool of the southern Tuvan tribal groups – Soyan and Choodu – was first studied and their comparative analysis with representatives of Kyrgys (south-east of Tuva) and Oorzhak (west of Tuva) tribal groups was carried out. Purpose of the study: to determine the genetic status of the Soyan and Choodu tribal groups within the genetic landscape of the population of Southern Siberia.

Materials and methods. The sample (total N=150) included samples from representatives of Oorzhak (N=42), Soyan (N=29), Kyrgys (N=46) and Choodu (N=33) tribal groups. The genotyping panel included 60 SNP-markers of Y-chromosome, characteristic of the populations of Northern Eurasia.

Results. In the gene pools of studied tribal groups, 27 branches of 7 large haplogroups (C2, J2, N1, O, R1a, R1b) of Y-chromosome were identified. The main part of Choodu, Oorzhak, Soyan gene pools is represented by “North Eurasian” haplogroups (N1, Q) and Kyrgys gene pool is dominated by “East Eurasian” haplogroups C2 and O. The “West-Eurasian” haplogroups, mainly represented by subhaplogroup R1a1a-Z93, account for less than a quarter of the gene pool of all four studied groups, without revealing a clear geographical trend. In the genetic space of the population of Southern Siberia the Soyan, Choodu and Kyrgys, together with other of Tuvan tribal groups, formed the Tuvan-Tofalar claster. Tuvan-Tofalar, Altai and Khakass clusters indicate three sources of gene pool of the indigenous population of Southern Siberia. Maps of genetic distances showed greater similarity of the Soyan and Choodu with the rest of Tuvan tribal groups than with other populations of Southern Siberia. But the map of genetic distances from Kyrgyz reveals a different pattern: areal of genetically similar populations is more extensive, covering southern and southeastern Tuva, Mongolia and western Buryatia.

Conclusion. The prevalence of “North-Eurasian” haplogroups in the gene pools of the studied Tuvan tribal groups and data of historians, ethnographers, linguists and geneticists suggest that their gene pool was formed at the Samoyed-Ket layer (VI-III centuries BC), and the accumulation of Central Asian component in the gene pool of Kyrgys occurred at a later stage of Kyrgys gene pool formation, presumably from the XII-XVIII centuries. Analysis of the gene pool of Tuvans through their tribal groups structure makes a significant contribution to the reconstruction of the ethnogenesis of Tuvan tribal groups, along with the data of anthropologists, historians, ethnographers and linguists. © 2024. This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 license

Introduction. Studying the ethnogenesis of Tuvans through the prism of the gene pools of their ancestral groups makes it possible to highlight the problem of the Mongolian influence on the formation of their gene pool: Tuvans are characterized by close ethno-cultural ties with Mongol-speaking tribes of Central Asia; Tuvans have an increased contribution of the Mongoloid anthropological variant; the Tuvan language ranks first among Turkic languages in terms of the number of Mongolian loanwords.

Materials and methods. A total sample of representatives of 12 Tuvan tribal groups (N=498) was studied using 60 SNP markers of the Y chromosome, characteristic of Northern Eurasian populations. 24 Y-haplogroups have been identified in the Tuvan gene pool. A comparison of the genetic differences between the tribal groups and between the territorial groups of Tuvans has been carried out. A generalized anthropological portrait of the Tuvan tribal groups Dongak and Sat has been created. A multidimensional statistical analysis 12 of Tuvan tribal groups in the genetic space of South Siberia and Central Asia was carried out.

Results. The «Paleosiberian» haplogroup Q1b-L56 is characterized by a clinal variability of increasing frequency from west to east; the direction of variability of haplogroup N1-F963 is opposite – its frequency increases from east to west. The maximum frequencies of the «Central Asian» haplogroups C2-M217, O1-F492, and O2-M122 were found in the southern Tuvan tribal groups, while the minimum frequencies were found in the western and northeastern tribal groups. The position of Tuvan tribal groups in the genetic space of the populations of Southern Siberia and Central Asia demonstrates the multicomponent nature of the formation of the gene pools of Tuvan tribal groups on a single Samoyed-Ket substrate connecting them with other populations of Southern Siberia. Interaction with Mongolian-speaking tribes is reflected in the gene pool of only individual Tuvan clans (most strongly in the tribal group Kyrgys). Generalized anthropological portraits of the Dongak and Sat ancestral groups are consistent with the results of Y-chromosome analysis: the increased frequency of "Central Asian" haplogroups is characteristic of the Sat. The differences between gene pools of tribal groups are more significant than between territorial groups of Tuvans.

Conclusion. The analysis of gene pools in 12 tribal groups has shown that for ethnic groups preserved the memory of the ancestral structure, the most informative is a study of gene pools of their tribal groups, rather than territorial entities. © 2025. This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 license