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1: Am J Hum Biol. 2006 Jul-Aug;18(4):461-9.Click here to read Links

Asian and non-Asian origins of Mon-Khmer- and Mundari-speaking Austro-Asiatic populations of India.

Kumar V, Langsiteh BT, Biswas S, Babu JP, Rao TN, Thangaraj K, Reddy AG, Singh L, Reddy BM.

Biological Anthropolgy Unit, Indian Statistical Institute, Habsiguda, Hyderabad 500 007, India.

In the present study, we analyzed 1,686 samples from 31 tribal populations of India for the mitochondrial DNA 9-base-pair deletion/insertion polymorphism, and characterized them based on the relevant mitochondrial DNA coding-region single nucleotide polymorphisms and hypervariable region I motifs, to test the genetic origins of the ethnically and linguistically heterogeneous Austro-Asiatic tribes of India. A comparative analysis of our results with the existing data suggests multiple origins of Austro-Asiatic tribes in India, and particularly the Asian and non-Asian origins of the Mon-Khmer and the Mundari populations. We also identified a novel subclade of haplogroup B in the Mon-Khmer Khasi tribes that distinguishes them from the Nicobarese, indicating two different waves of migration of the Mon-Khmer tribes in India.

PMID: 16788903 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]