Genetic heritage of Croatians in the Southeastern European gene pool-Y chromosome analysis of the Croatian continental and Island population.

Objectives: The research objective of this study is to enlarge and deepen the Y chromosome research on the Croatian population and enable additional insights into the population diversity and historic events that shaped the current genetic landscape of Croatia and Southeastern Europe (SEE).

Materials And Methods: A high-resolution phylogenetic and phylogeographic analysis of 66 biallelic (SNPs) and 17 microsatellite (STRs) markers of the Y chromosome was performed using 720 Croatian samples. The obtained results were placed in a wider European context by comparison with ∼4450 samples from a number of other European populations.

Influence of evolutionary forces and demographic processes on the genetic structure of three Croatian populations: a maternal perspective.

Background: Many Croatian islands are examples of genetic isolates, with low level of heterozygosity and high level of inbreeding, due to practice of endogamy.

Aim: The aim was to study the genetic structure of two insular and one mainland population through high-resolution phylogenetic analysis of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA).

Subjects And Methods: MtDNA polymorphisms were explored in 300 unrelated individuals from Mljet, Lastovo and the coastal city of Dubrovnik, based on SNP polymorphisms.