Demographic estimates from Y chromosome microsatellite polymorphisms: Analysis of a worldwide sample

Abstract

Abstract Polymorphisms in microsatellites on the human Y chromosome have been used to estimate important demographic parameters of human history. We compare two coalescent-based statistical methods that give estimates for a number of demographic parameters using the seven Y chromosome polymorphisms in the HGDP-CEPH Cell Line Panel, a collection of samples from 52 worldwide populations. The estimates for the time to the most recent common ancestor vary according to the method used and the assumptions about the prior distributions of model parameters, but are generally consistent with other global Y chromosome studies. We explore the sensitivity of these results to assumptions about the prior distributions and the evolutionary models themselves.

Keywords

• Bayesian inference
• demographic parameters
• human history
• statistical genetics
• time to the most recent common ancestor (TMRCA)
• Y chromosome