HVS1 Haplotypes of mtDNA in the Modern Population of Yakutia in Comparison with its Ancient Population and Eurasian Peoples

The study of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), particularly the hypervariable segment (HVS1) region, is widely used to reconstruct a population's history, structure, and origin. The origin of the Sakha people living in the north-east of Russia has been discussed for more than 300 years, but up to the present time many aspects of their ethnogenesis remain unclear. In order to clarify the migration routes of the ancient ancestors of the Sakha, we analyzed the mitotypes of 69 unrelated representatives of this ethnic group, whose belonging to the ethnic group was traced to the third generation. In the studied Sakha group, we identified 33 mitotypes, the distribution of which by haplogroups approximately coincides with the data of other studies. The results of a comparative study of Sakha mitotypes according to EMPOP data and literature sources revealed a wide distribution of the identified mtDNA HVS1 haplotypes in many populations of Eurasia. A comparison of the obtained mitotypes with the results of mtDNA sequencing of ancient samples shows that most of the mtDNA lines of modern Sakha have long been located on the territory of Yakutia. West Eurasian and East Asian mtDNA lines were incorporated into the Sakha genome at different times in different ways. The results obtained contribute to a better understanding of the routes of ancient migrations of the ancestors of the Sakha population.