Diversity of mitochondrial DNA haplotypes in ethnic populations of the Volga-Ural region of Russia

The mtDNA polymorphism was analyzed in eight ethnic groups (N = 979) of the Volga-Ural region. Most mtDNA variants belonged to haplogroups H, U, T, J, W, I, R, and N1 characteristic of West Eurasian populations. The most frequent were haplogroups H (12-42%) and U (18-44%). East Eurasian mtDNA types (A, B, Y, F, M, N9) were also observed. Genetic diversity was higher in Turkic than in Finno-Ugric populations. The frequency of mtDNA types characteristic of Siberian and Central Asian populations substantially increased in the ethnic groups living closer to the Urals, a boundary between Europe and Asia. Geographic distances, rather than linguistic barriers, were assumed to play the major role in distribution of mtDNA types in the Volga-Ural region. Thus, as concerns the maternal lineage, the Finno-Ugric populations of the region proved to be more similar to their Turkic neighbors rather than to linguistically related Balto-Finnish ethnic groups.