Mitochondrial DNA (hypervariable region I) diversity in Basrah population - Iraq

Abstract

In attempt to investigate the origin of Basrah, we examined the mitochondrial DNA(mt-DNA) variations by hypervariable segment 1(HVS1) Sequencing and determination of specific site haplogroups. In Basrah, no significant differences diversity among Iraqis' HVS1 compared with other countries. The values were within the range of gene diversity across the Middle East and exhibited the unimodal pattern of differences in the pairwise sequence. Given the small genetic differences between people living in this area, phylogenetic analysis showed a large variability of the communities of Basrah; they didn't cluster on the phylogenetic tree.

Keywords: Genetic structure; Haplogroups prediction; Mt-DNA diversity; Population differentiation.