Genetic distances,geographic distances and migration between four villages of a single region in Slovakia

Genetic microdifferentiation has been studied among four endogamous villages of the Bystrica Valley in the Kysuce region of northwest Slovakia, which arose from a single ancestral population about 15 generations ago. Genetic distances and sample kinship between the villages were estimated from the gene frequencies of seven serum-group and isozyme genetic markers. The genetic distance was found to correlate positively (though insignificantly) with the geographic distance, and negatively with the intensity of migration between villages; the sample kinship correlates negatively with geography as well as with the genetic distance. This pattern of genetic structure within the area indicates that the genetic variation among the villages is attributable to the genetic drift. Thus, drift has brought about a detectable differentiation in the area within a limited period of approximately 300 years, in spite of the fact that the villages were not completely genetically isolated from each other. The finding of a negative correlation between the sample kinship and geographic distance indicates that the recent breakdown of genetic isolates in Slovakia is likely to be accompanied with an overall increase of heterozygosity.