Eskimos

 The core of the genetic makeup of the Chukchi and Siberian Eskimos consisted of three (Haplogroup A, Haplogroup C, and Haplogroup D) of the four primary mtDNA haplotype groups (Haplogroup A, Haplogroup B, Haplogroup C, and Haplogroup D) observed in Native Americans.

 Haplogroup A being the most prevalent in both Chukotkan populations.

 Two unique haplotypes belonging to Haplogroup G (formerly called "other" mtDNAs) were also observed in a few Chukchi, and these have apparently been acquired through gene flow from adjacent Kamchatka, where Haplogroup G is prevalent in the Koryak and Itel’men. (9792876)

 A 16111C—>T transition appears to delineate an "American" enclave of Haplogroup A mtDNAs in northeastern Siberia, whereas the 16192C—>T transition demarcates a "northern Pacific Rim" cluster within Haplogroup A. (9792876)

 The sequence-divergence estimates for Haplogroup A, Haplogroup C, and Haplogroup D of Siberian and Native American populations indicate that the earliest inhabitants of Beringia possessed a limited number of founding mtDNA haplotypes and that the first humans expanded into the New World approximately 34,000 years before present (YBP). (9792876)

 Subsequent migration 16,000-13,000 YBP through Beringia apparently brought a restricted number of Haplogroup B haplotypes to the Americas. (9792876)

 For millennia, Beringia may have been the repository of the respective founding sequences that selectively penetrated into northern North America from western Alaska.

See also

 mtDNAs
 Chukotka and Chukchi
 Siberian Eskimos
 RFLP analysis
 control-region sequencing

References

 Starikovskaya YB, Sukernik RI, Schurr TG, Kogelnik AM, Wallace DC. mtDNA diversity in Chukchi and Siberian Eskimos: implications for the genetic history of Ancient Beringia and the peopling of the New World. Am J Hum Genet. 1998 Nov;63(5):1473-91. PMID: 9792876