Between Europe and the Mediterranean: High Resolution Y-Chromosome Structure of Italy - Preliminary Results

The Italian Peninsula, due to its pivotal geographical position, located in the heart of Mediterranean Sea, but, at the same time, tighdy connected with Europe, was involved in all the principal colonization phases of the continent, thus offering a unique opportunity to test hypotheses on the peopling of the northern Mediterranean coast and southern Europe. Nevertheless, despite its geographical and historical importance, only few studies (Di Giacomo et al, 2003, Capelli et aL, 2007) have been specifically focused on the genetic history of Italian population, since Cavalli-Sforza pioneering study (1994) about the "geography and history of human genes". Within the worldwide "Genographic Project" workframe, this research aims to increase and update our knowledge about Italian population genetic history, by increasing the specificity of sampling strategy and the resolution power ofY-chromosome uniparental molecular markers analyzed. Here we are going to present the preliminary results.