Reconstructing the Indian Origin and Dispersal of the European Roma: a Maternal Genetic Perspective

Previous genetic, anthropological and linguistic studies have shown that Roma (Gypsies) constitute a founder population dispersed throughout Europe whose origins might be traced to the Indian subcontinent. Linguistic and anthropological evidence point to Indo-Aryan ethnic groups from North-western India as the ancestral parental population of Roma. Recently, a strong genetic hint supporting this theory came from a study of a private mutation causing primary congenital glaucoma. In the present study, complete mitochondrial control sequences of Iberian Roma and previously published maternal lineages of other European Roma were analyzed in order to establish the genetic affinities among Roma groups, determine the degree of admixture with neighbouring populations, infer the migration routes followed since the first arrival to Europe, and survey the origin of Roma within the Indian subcontinent.

Bibliographic Details

Main Authors:	Mendizabal, Isabel, Valente, Cristina, Gusmão, Alfredo, Alves, Cíntia, Gomes, Verónica, Goios, Ana, Parson, Walther, Calafell, Francesc, Álvarez, Luis A., Amorim, António, Gusmão, Leonor, Comas, David, Prata, Maria João
Other Authors:	Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia (España)
Format:	artículo biblioteca
Language:	English
Published:	Public Library of Science 2011-01-10
Online Access:	http://hdl.handle.net/10261/43175 http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100002809 http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100001871 http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100002428
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