Y-chromosome-specific haplotype diversity in Ashkenazic and Sephardic Jews.

DNA samples from Ashkenazic and Sephardic Jews were studied with Y-chromosome-specific DNA probes p49f and p49a to screen for RFLPs and haplotypes. All 16 European haplotypes were found in Jews, but only 2 of them (VII and VIII) were widespread. Haplotype distributions in the two Jewish populations are similar, but haplotypes XI and XV are more frequent in the Ashkenazim and haplotypes IV and V are more frequent in the Sephardim, indicating their origins.