The fine-scale genetic structure of the British population

Stephen Leslie, Bruce Winney, Garrett Hellenthal, Dan Davison, Abdelhamid Boumertit, Tammy Day, Katarzyna Hutnik, Ellen C. Royrvik, Barry Cunliffe, Daniel J. Lawson, Daniel Falush, Colin Freeman, Matti Pirinen, Simon Myers, Mark Robinson, Peter Donnelly () and Walter Bodmer
Additional contact information
Stephen Leslie: Murdoch Childrens Research Institute, Royal Children’s Hospital, Flemington Road, Parkville, Victoria 3052, Australia
Bruce Winney: University of Oxford, Old Road Campus Research Building, Roosevelt Drive, Oxford OX3 7DQ, UK
Garrett Hellenthal: University College London Genetics Institute, Darwin Building, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, UK
Dan Davison: Counsyl, 180 Kimball Way
Abdelhamid Boumertit: University of Oxford, Old Road Campus Research Building, Roosevelt Drive, Oxford OX3 7DQ, UK
Tammy Day: University of Oxford, Old Road Campus Research Building, Roosevelt Drive, Oxford OX3 7DQ, UK
Katarzyna Hutnik: University of Oxford, Old Road Campus Research Building, Roosevelt Drive, Oxford OX3 7DQ, UK
Ellen C. Royrvik: University of Oxford, Old Road Campus Research Building, Roosevelt Drive, Oxford OX3 7DQ, UK
Barry Cunliffe: University of Oxford, Institute of Archaeology, 36 Beaumont Street, Oxford OX1 2PG, UK
Daniel J. Lawson: University of Bristol, University Walk, Bristol BS8 1TW, UK
Daniel Falush: College of Medicine, Swansea University, Singleton Park, Swansea SA2 8PP, UK
Colin Freeman: The Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics, Roosevelt Drive, Oxford OX3 7BN, UK
Matti Pirinen: University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 20, Helsinki, FI-00014, Finland
Simon Myers: University of Oxford, 1 South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3TG, UK
Mark Robinson: University of Oxford, University Museum of Natural History, Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PW, UK
Peter Donnelly: The Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics, Roosevelt Drive, Oxford OX3 7BN, UK
Walter Bodmer: University of Oxford, Old Road Campus Research Building, Roosevelt Drive, Oxford OX3 7DQ, UK

Nature, 2015, vol. 519, issue 7543, 309-314

Abstract: Abstract Fine-scale genetic variation between human populations is interesting as a signature of historical demographic events and because of its potential for confounding disease studies. We use haplotype-based statistical methods to analyse genome-wide single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) data from a carefully chosen geographically diverse sample of 2,039 individuals from the United Kingdom. This reveals a rich and detailed pattern of genetic differentiation with remarkable concordance between genetic clusters and geography. The regional genetic differentiation and differing patterns of shared ancestry with 6,209 individuals from across Europe carry clear signals of historical demographic events. We estimate the genetic contribution to southeastern England from Anglo-Saxon migrations to be under half, and identify the regions not carrying genetic material from these migrations. We suggest significant pre-Roman but post-Mesolithic movement into southeastern England from continental Europe, and show that in non-Saxon parts of the United Kingdom, there exist genetically differentiated subgroups rather than a general ‘Celtic’ population.

Date: 2015
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DOI: 10.1038/nature14230

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