Molecular phylogenetic study of the Iranians based on polymorphic markers.

The application of polymorphic markers in construction of phylogenetic trees has been documented. Five polymorphic markers located in the PAH gene region including PAH-BglII, PAH-PvuII(A), PAH-EcoRI, PAH-MspI and PAH-STR were selected for analysis of phylogenetic relationships of the Iranians with 15 other populations of the world. The lowest genetic distance was observed between the Iranians and populations residing in Adygei (an ethnic group of the Russian Caucasus), Russia and Druze (a Middle Eastern group). However, East Asian populations including Han, Japanese and Cambodians, Khmer or the Oceanians (Melanesian, Nasioi) showed high genetic distance with the Iranians. The data suggested that the Iranians might have relatively close evolutionary history with the populations residing in Russia rather than East Asian populations. This study provided the first new molecular insight into the evolutionary history of the Iranian population.