Abstract
Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) is an important tool used to explore ethnogenetics and the evolutionary history of human populations. In this study, hypervariable segment I (HVSI) from mtDNA was analyzed to establish the genetic lineage of the Hazarewal populations residing in the Mansehra and Abbottabad districts of Northern Pakistan. HVSI was extracted from genetic specimens obtained from 225 unrelated male and female individuals belonging to seven distinct Pakistani ethnic groups (31 Abbassis, 44 Awans, 38 Gujars, 16 Jadoons, 23 Karlals, 33 Syeds, and 40 Tanolis). Eighty-three haplogroups, 39 of which were unique, were identified; haplogroup H was predominantly represented (in 40% of the people), followed by haplogroups M (21.78%), R (16.89%), N (15.56%), L (3.11%), and HV (2.67%). The results revealed a sex-biased genetic contribution from putative West Eurasian, South Asian, and Sub-Saharan populations to the genetic lineage of Hazarewal ancestry, with the effect of Eurasians being predominant. The HVSI nucleotide sequences exhibited some characteristic deletion mutations between 16,022 and 16,193 bp, which is characteristic of specific ethnic groups. HVSI sequence homology showed that Hazarewal populations fall into three major clusters: Syeds and Awans sorted out into cluster I; Tanolis, Gujars, and Karlals segregated in cluster II; and Abbassis and Jadoons in cluster III. Here, we have reported the firsthand genetic information and evolutionary sketch of the selected populations residing alongside the historical Silk Route, which provides a baseline for collating the origin, route of migration, and phylogenetics of the population.