Genetic Analysis of the Major Tribes of Buner and Swabi Areas through Dental Morphology and DNA Analysis

Abstract

This dissertation is part of the Higher Education Commission of Pakistan (HEC) funded project, “Enthnogenetic elaboration of KP through Dental Morphology and DNA analysis”. This study focused on five major ethnic groups (Gujars, Jadoons, Syeds, Tanolis, and Yousafzais) of Buner and Swabi Districts, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, Pakistan, through investigations of variations in morphological traits of the permanent tooth crown, and by molecular anthropology based on mitochondrial and Y-chromosome DNA analyses. The frequencies of seven dental traits, of the Arizona State University Dental Anthropology System (ASUDAS) were scored as 17 toothtrait combinations for each sample, encompassing a total sample size of 688 individuals. These data were compared to data collected in an identical fashion among samples of prehistoric inhabitants of the Indus Valley, southern Central Asia, and west-central peninsular India, as well as to samples of living members of ethnic groups from Abbottabad, Chitral, Haripur, and Mansehra Districts, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and to samples of living members of ethnic groups residing in Gilgit-Baltistan. Similarities in dental trait frequencies were assessed with C.A.B. Smith’s mean measure of divergence distance (MMD). Intergroup patterning in the diagonal pairwise matrix of MMD values was subjected to hierarchical cluster analysis with Ward’s method, neighbor-joining cluster analysis, and multidimensional scaling with both Kruskal’s and Guttman’s methods. Results indicate that the five ethnic groups from Buner and Swabi Districts possess no affinities to the prehistoric samples from southern Central Asia, or the Indus Valley. Likewise, XXII they share no affinities to populations, either prehistoric or living, of peninsular Indians. Among the samples of contemporary ethnic groups of Pakistan, the Jadoons of Swabi District (JADsb) and the MadakLasht of Chitral District are almost always identified as outliers with few affinities to the other samples considered in this study. The two Yousafzai samples (YSFb, YSFsb) and the two Wakhi samples (WAKg, WAKs) tended to exhibit closest affinities to one another, as do the two Gujar samples (GUJb, GUJsb) and two of the Syed samples (SYDb, SYDsb), albeit to a lesser extent. There does not seem to be a consistent separation of samples from the Hindu Kush/Karakoram highlands (i.e., Chitral District, Gilgit-Baltistan versus those occupying the foothills and northern rim of the Indus Valley (i.e., Abbotabad, Buner, Haripur, Mansehra, Swabi Districts), While members of these ethnic groups tended to show relatively close affinities to other self-identifying members of that ethnic group, regardless of sampling locality, this was not true for Tanolis, for the sample from Mansehra District exhibits no affinities to the sample of Tanolis from Swabi District (TANsb). Maternal genetic ancestry was explored by analyzing the mtDNA coding regions and control region sequence variation. Though this analysis, a total of 54 mtDNA haplogroups was identified, majority (50.53%) of them being western Eurasian lineages, suggesting somewhat greater affinity with West Eurasian populations relative to populations of other world regions. South Asian lineages account for 39% of the lineages found among members of the five sampled ethnic groups of Buner and Swabi Districts, while East Eurasian XXIII lineages account for 10.17%. West Eurasian lineages were found with greatest frequency among the Gujars (62.3%), while lowest frequencies occurred among the Tanolis (47.01%). The most prevalent haplogroup among all the five ethnic groups was H with a frequency of 11.53%, while the frequencies of U7 (6.98%), J1 (4.70%), W (4.70%) and HV (3.64%) was recorded. Frequencies of South Asian lineages were found to be highest among Tanolis (47.76%), while lowest frequencies occurred among Syeds (26.77%). Haplogroup U2 (8.35%), M3 (5.61%), and R5 (4.1%) were the most frequent South Asian lineages found in the present study. Jadoons were found to exhibit the heist frequency of East Eurasian lineages (15.15%), while lowest frequencies were found among the Gujars (4.1%).” Haplogroup D was found to be the most prevalent East Eurasian lineage, representing 3.64% individuals. Genetic variations in the non-recombining segment of the Y-chromosome (NRY) were characterized using 32 binary markers and 19 short tandem repeats (STRs). These markers yielded 11 haplogroups across the five population samples. The majority of the Y-chromosomes were found to belong to haplogroups R1a1a (50%), R1b1a (17.4%) and O3 (13.86%). Highest frequencies of haplogroup R1a1a-M17 were found among the Syed samples (89.15%), while lowest frequencies occurred among the Jadoons (5.26%). Western Eurasian haplogroup R1b1a-M297 was only found among the Tanoli males included in the study, while Jadoon Y-chromosomes were predominantly of haplogroup O3 (76.32%). South Asian haplogroup L was found with highest frequencies among the Gujars (20.97%), while lowest XXIV frequencies occurred in the sample of Jadoon males (3.51%). Overall, this study provides high resolution data sets for both uniparental lineage systems (mtDNA, Y-chromosome), as well insight into the genetic diversity encompassed by the five sampled ethnic groups of Buner and Swabi Districts, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan.