Human population history at the crossroads of East and Southeast Asia since 11,000 years ago

Malaria resistance-related biological adaptation and complex evolutionary footprints inferred from one integrative Tai-Kadai-related genomic resource

Pathogen‒host adaptative interactions and complex population demographical processes, including admixture, drift, and Darwen selection, have considerably shaped the Neolithic-to-Modern Western Eurasian population structure and genetic susceptibility to modern human diseases. However, the genetic footprints of evolutionary events in East Asia remain unknown due to the underrepresentation of genomic diversity and the design of large-scale population studies. We reported one aggregated database of genome-wide SNP variations from 796 Tai-Kadai (TK) genomes, including that of Bouyei first reported here, to explore the genetic history, population structure, and biological adaptative features of TK people from southern China and Southeast Asia. We found geography-related population substructure among TK people using the state-of-the-art population genetic structure reconstruction techniques based on the allele frequency spectrum and haplotype-resolved phased fragments. We found that the northern TK people from Guizhou harbored one TK-dominant ancestry maximized in the Bouyei people, and the southern TK people from Thailand were more influenced by Southeast Asians and indigenous people. We reconstructed fitted admixture models and demographic graphs, which showed that TK people received gene flow from ancient southern rice farmer-related lineages related to the Hmong-Mien and Austroasiatic people and from northern millet farmers associated with the Sino-Tibetan people. Biological adaptation focused on our identified unique TK lineages related to Bouyei, which showed many adaptive signatures conferring Malaria resistance and low-rate lipid metabolism. Further gene enrichment, the allele frequency distribution of derived alleles, and their correlation with the incidence of Malaria further confirmed that CR1 played an essential role in the resistance of Malaria in the ancient "Baiyue" tribes.

Reconstructing the ancestral gene pool to uncover the origins and genetic links of Hmong-Mien speakers

BACKGROUND

Hmong-Mien (HM) speakers are linguistically related and live primarily in China, but little is known about their ancestral origins or the evolutionary mechanism shaping their genomic diversity. In particular, the lack of whole-genome sequencing data on the Yao population has prevented a full investigation of the origins and evolutionary history of HM speakers. As such, their origins are debatable.

RESULTS

Here, we made a deep sequencing effort of 80 Yao genomes, and our analysis together with 28 East Asian populations and 968 ancient Asian genomes suggested that there is a strong genetic basis for the formation of the HM language family. We estimated that the most recent common ancestor dates to 5800 years ago, while the genetic divergence between the HM and Tai-Kadai speakers was estimated to be 8200 years ago. We proposed that HM speakers originated from the Yangtze River Basin and spread with agricultural civilization. We identified highly differentiated variants between HM and Han Chinese, in particular, a deafness-related missense variant (rs72474224) in the GJB2 gene is in a higher frequency in HM speakers than in others.

CONCLUSIONS

Our results indicated complex gene flow and medically relevant variants involved in the HM speakers' evolution history.

Differentiated adaptative genetic architecture and language-related demographical history in South China inferred from 619 genomes from 56 populations

BACKGROUND

The underrepresentation of human genomic resources from Southern Chinese populations limited their health equality in the precision medicine era and complete understanding of their genetic formation, admixture, and adaptive features. Besides, linguistical and genetic evidence supported the controversial hypothesis of their origin processes. One hotspot case was from the Chinese Guangxi Pinghua Han people (GPH), whose language was significantly similar to Southern Chinese dialects but whose uniparental gene pool was phylogenetically associated with the indigenous Tai-Kadai (TK) people. Here, we analyzed genome-wide SNP data in 619 people from four language families and 56 geographically different populations, in which 261 people from 21 geographically distinct populations were first reported here.

RESULTS

We identified significant population stratification among ethnolinguistically diverse Guangxi populations, suggesting their differentiated genetic origin and admixture processes. GPH shared more alleles related to Zhuang than Southern Han Chinese but received more northern ancestry relative to Zhuang. Admixture models and estimates of genetic distances showed that GPH had a close genetic relationship with geographically close TK compared to Northern Han Chinese, supporting their admixture origin hypothesis. Further admixture time and demographic history reconstruction supported GPH was formed via admixture between Northern Han Chinese and Southern TK people. We identified robust signatures associated with lipid metabolisms, such as fatty acid desaturases (FADS) and medically relevant loci associated with Mendelian disorder (GJB2) and complex diseases. We also explored the shared and unique selection signatures of ethnically different but linguistically related Guangxi lineages and found some shared signals related to immune and malaria resistance.

CONCLUSIONS

Our genetic analysis illuminated the language-related fine-scale genetic structure and provided robust genetic evidence to support the admixture hypothesis that can explain the pattern of observed genetic diversity and formation of GPH. This work presented one comprehensive analysis focused on the population history and demographical adaptative process, which provided genetic evidence for personal health management and disease risk prediction models from Guangxi people. Further large-scale whole-genome sequencing projects would provide the entire landscape of southern Chinese genomic diversity and their contributions to human health and disease traits.

The Allen Ancient DNA Resource (AADR) a curated compendium of ancient human genomes

More than two hundred papers have reported genome-wide data from ancient humans. While the raw data for the vast majority are fully publicly available testifying to the commitment of the paleogenomics community to open data, formats for both raw data and meta-data differ. There is thus a need for uniform curation and a centralized, version-controlled compendium that researchers can download, analyze, and reference. Since 2019, we have been maintaining the Allen Ancient DNA Resource (AADR), which aims to provide an up-to-date, curated version of the world's published ancient human DNA data, represented at more than a million single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) at which almost all ancient individuals have been assayed. The AADR has gone through six public releases at the time of writing and review of this manuscript, and crossed the threshold of >10,000 individuals with published genome-wide ancient DNA data at the end of 2022. This note is intended as a citable descriptor of the AADR.

The Born in Guangzhou Cohort Study enables generational genetic discoveries

Genomic research that targets large-scale, prospective birth cohorts constitutes an essential strategy for understanding the influence of genetics and environment on human health1. Nonetheless, such studies remain scarce, particularly in Asia. Here we present the phase I genome study of the Born in Guangzhou Cohort Study2 (BIGCS), which encompasses the sequencing and analysis of 4,053 Chinese individuals, primarily composed of trios or mother-infant duos residing in South China. Our analysis reveals novel genetic variants, a high-quality reference panel, and fine-scale local genetic structure within BIGCS. Notably, we identify previously unreported East Asian-specific genetic associations with maternal total bile acid, gestational weight gain and infant cord blood traits. Additionally, we observe prevalent age-specific genetic effects on lipid levels in mothers and infants. In an exploratory intergenerational Mendelian randomization analysis, we estimate the maternal putatively causal and fetal genetic effects of seven adult phenotypes on seven fetal growth-related measurements. These findings illuminate the genetic links between maternal and early-life traits in an East Asian population and lay the groundwork for future research into the intricate interplay of genetics, intrauterine exposures and early-life experiences in shaping long-term health.

Differentiated genomic footprints suggest isolation and long-distance migration of Hmong-Mien populations

BACKGROUND

The underrepresentation of Hmong-Mien (HM) people in Asian genomic studies has hindered our comprehensive understanding of the full landscape of their evolutionary history and complex trait architecture. South China is a multi-ethnic region and indigenously settled by ethnolinguistically diverse HM, Austroasiatic (AA), Tai-Kadai (TK), Austronesian (AN), and Sino-Tibetan (ST) people, which is regarded as East Asia's initial cradle of biodiversity. However, previous fragmented genetic studies have only presented a fraction of the landscape of genetic diversity in this region, especially the lack of haplotype-based genomic resources. The deep characterization of demographic history and natural-selection-relevant genetic architecture of HM people was necessary.

RESULTS

We reported one HM-specific genomic resource and comprehensively explored the fine-scale genetic structure and adaptative features inferred from the genome-wide SNP data of 440 HM individuals from 33 ethnolinguistic populations, including previously unreported She. We identified solid genetic differentiation between HM people and Han Chinese at 7.64‒15.86 years ago (kya) and split events between southern Chinese inland (Miao/Yao) and coastal (She) HM people in the middle Bronze Age period and the latter obtained more gene flow from Ancient Northern East Asians. Multiple admixture models further confirmed that extensive gene flow from surrounding ST, TK, and AN people entangled in forming the gene pool of Chinese coastal HM people. Genetic findings of isolated shared unique ancestral components based on the sharing alleles and haplotypes deconstructed that HM people from the Yungui Plateau carried the breadth of previously unknown genomic diversity. We identified a direct and recent genetic connection between Chinese inland and Southeast Asian HM people as they shared the most extended identity-by-descent fragments, supporting the long-distance migration hypothesis. Uniparental phylogenetic topology and network-based phylogenetic relationship reconstruction found ancient uniparental founding lineages in southwestern HM people. Finally, the population-specific biological adaptation study identified the shared and differentiated natural selection signatures among inland and coastal HM people associated with physical features and immune functions. The allele frequency spectrum of cancer susceptibility alleles and pharmacogenomic genes showed significant differences between HM and northern Chinese people.

CONCLUSIONS

Our extensive genetic evidence combined with the historical documents supported the view that ancient HM people originated from the Yungui regions associated with ancient "Three-Miao tribes" descended from the ancient Daxi-Qujialing-Shijiahe people. Then, some have recently migrated rapidly to Southeast Asia, and some have migrated eastward and mixed respectively with Southeast Asian indigenes, Liangzhu-related coastal ancient populations, and incoming southward ST people. Generally, complex population migration, admixture, and adaptation history contributed to the complicated patterns of population structure of geographically diverse HM people.

Genomic portrait and relatedness patterns of the Iron Age Log Coffin culture in northwestern Thailand

The Iron Age of highland Pang Mapha, northwestern Thailand, is characterised by a mortuary practice known as Log Coffin culture. Dating between 2300 and 1000 years ago, large coffins carved from individual teak trees have been discovered in over 40 caves and rock shelters. While previous studies focussed on the cultural development of the Log Coffin-associated sites, the origins of the practice, connections with other wooden coffin-using groups in Southeast Asia, and social structure within the region remain understudied. Here, we present genome-wide data from 33 individuals from five Log Coffin culture sites to study genetic ancestry profiles and genetic interconnectedness. The Log Coffin-associated genomes can be modelled as an admixture between Hòabìnhian hunter-gatherer-, Yangtze River farmer-, and Yellow River farmer-related ancestry. This indicates different influence spheres from Bronze and Iron Age individuals from northeastern Thailand as reflected by cultural practices. Our analyses also identify close genetic relationships within the sites and more distant connections between sites in the same and different river valleys. In combination with high mitochondrial haplogroup diversity and genome-wide homogeneity, the Log Coffin-associated groups from northwestern Thailand seem to have been a large, well-connected community, where genetic relatedness played a significant role in the mortuary ritual.

Ancient genomes reveal millet farming-related demic diffusion from the Yellow River into southwest China

The study of southwest China is vital for understanding the dispersal and development of farming because of the coexistence of millet and rice in this region since the Neolithic period.1,2 However, the process of the Neolithic transition in southwest China is largely unknown, mainly due to the lack of ancient DNA from the Neolithic period. Here, we report genome-wide data from 11 human samples from the Gaoshan and Haimenkou sites with mixed farming of millet and rice dating to between 4,500 and 3,000 years before present in southwest China. The two ancient groups derived approximately 90% of their ancestry from the Neolithic Yellow River farmers, suggesting a demic diffusion of millet farming to southwest China. We inferred their remaining ancestry to be derived from a Hòabìnhian-related hunter-gatherer lineage. We did not detect rice farmer-related ancestry in the two ancient groups, which indicates that they likely adopted rice farming without genetic assimilation. We, however, observed rice farmer-related ancestry in the formation of some present-day Tibeto-Burman populations. Our results suggested the occurrence of both demic and cultural diffusion in the development of Neolithic mixed farming in some parts of southwest China.

Phylogenetic evidence reveals early Kra-Dai divergence and dispersal in the late Holocene

Studying language evolution brings a crucial perspective to bear on questions of human prehistory. As the most linguistically diverse region on earth, East and Southeast Asia have witnessed extensive sociocultural and ethnic contacts among different language communities. Especially, the Kra-Dai language family exhibits tremendous socio-cultural importance in these regions. Due to limited historical accounts, however, there are several controversies on their linguistic relatedness, ambiguities regarding the divergence time, and uncertainties on the dispersal patterns. To address these issues, here we apply Bayesian phylogenetic methods to analyze the largest lexical dataset containing 646 cognate sets compiled for 100 Kra-Dai languages. Our dated phylogenetic tree showed their initial divergence occurring approximately 4000 years BP. Phylogeographic results supported the early Kra-Dai language dispersal from the Guangxi-Guangdong area of South China towards Mainland Southeast Asia. Coupled with genetic, archaeological, paleoecologic, and paleoclimatic data, we demonstrated that the Kra-Dai language diversification could have coincided with their demic diffusion and agricultural spread shaped by the global climate change in the late Holocene. The interdisciplinary alignments shed light on reconstructing the prehistory of Kra-Dai languages and provide an indispensable piece of the puzzle for further studying prehistoric human activities in East and Southeast Asia.

Recent positive selection signatures reveal phenotypic evolution in the Han Chinese population

Characterizing natural selection signatures and relationships with phenotype spectra is important for understanding human evolution and both biological and pathological mechanisms. Here, we identified 24 genetic loci under recent selection by analyzing rare singletons in 3946 high-depth whole-genome sequencing data of Han Chinese. The loci include immune-related gene regions (MHC cluster, IGH cluster, STING1, and PSG), alcohol metabolism-related gene regions (ADH1B, ALDH2, and ALDH3B2), and the olfactory perception gene OR4C16, in which the MHC cluster, ADH1B, and ALDH2 were also identified by TOPMed and WestLake Biobank. Among the signals, the IGH cluster is particularly interesting, in which the favored allele of variant 14_105737776_C_T (rs117518546, IgG1-G396R) promotes immune response, but also increases the risk of an autoimmune disease systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). It is also surprising that our newly discovered ALDH3B2 evolved in the opposite direction to ALDH2 for alcohol metabolism. Besides monogenic traits, we found that multiple complex traits experienced polygenic adaptation. Particularly, multi-methods consistently revealed that lower blood pressure was favored in natural selection. Finally, we built a database named RePoS (recent positive selection, http://bigdata.ibp.ac.cn/RePoS/) to integrate and display multi-population selection signals. Our study extended our understanding of natural evolution and phenotype adaptation in Han Chinese as well as other populations.

Distinguished biological adaptation architecture aggravated population differentiation of Tibeto-Burman-speaking people

Tibeto-Burman (TB) people have endeavored to adapt to the hypoxic, cold, and high-UV high-altitude environments in the Tibetan Plateau and complex disease exposures in lowland rainforests since the late Paleolithic period. However, the full landscape of genetic history and biological adaptation of geographically diverse TB-speaking people, as well as their interaction mechanism, remain unknown. Here, we generate a whole-genome meta-database of 500 individuals from 39 TB-speaking populations and present a comprehensive landscape of genetic diversity, admixture history, and differentiated adaptative features of geographically different TB-speaking people. We identify genetic differentiation related to geography and language among TB-speaking people, consistent with their differentiated admixture process with incoming or indigenous ancestral source populations. A robust genetic connection between the Tibetan-Yi corridor and the ancient Yellow River people supports their Northern China origin hypothesis. We finally report substructure-related differentiated biological adaptative signatures between highland Tibetans and Loloish speakers. Adaptative signatures associated with the physical pigmentation (EDAR and SLC24A5) and metabolism (ALDH9A1) are identified in Loloish people, which differed from the high-altitude adaptative genetic architecture in Tibetan. TB-related genomic resources provide new insights into the genetic basis of biological adaptation and better reference for the anthropologically informed sampling design in biomedical and genomic cohort research.

Infectious diseases may have arrested the southward advance of microblades in Upper Palaeolithic East Asia

An unsolved archaeological puzzle of the East Asian Upper Palaeolithic is why the southward expansion of an innovative lithic technology represented by microblades stalled at the Qinling-Huaihe Line. It has been suggested that the southward migration of foragers with microblades stopped there, which is consistent with ancient DNA studies showing that populations to the north and south of this line had differentiated genetically by 19 000 years ago. Many infectious pathogens are believed to have been associated with hominins since the Palaeolithic, and zoonotic pathogens in particular are prevalent at lower latitudes, which may have produced a disease barrier. We propose a mathematical model to argue that mortality due to infectious diseases may have arrested the wave-of-advance of the technologically advantaged foragers from the north.

The first maternal genetic study of hunter-gatherers from Vietnam

The current limitation of ancient DNA data from Vietnam led to the controversy surrounding the prehistory of people in this region. The combination of high heat and humidity damaged ancient bones that challenged the study of human evolution, especially when using DNA as study materials. So far, only 4 k years of history have been recorded despite the 65 k years of history of anatomically modern human occupations in Vietnam. Here we report, to our knowledge, the oldest mitogenomes of two hunter-gatherers from Vietnam. We extracted DNA from the femurs of two individuals aged 6.2 k cal BP from the Con Co Ngua (CCN) site in Thanh Hoa, Vietnam. This archeological site is the largest cemetery of the hunter-gatherer population in Southeast Asia (SEA) that was discovered, but their genetics have not been explored until the present. We indicated that the CCN haplotype belongs to a rare haplogroup that was not detected in any present-day Vietnamese individuals. Further matrilineal analysis on CCN mitogenomes showed a close relationship with ancient farmers and present-day populations in SEA. The mitogenomes of hunter-gatherers from Vietnam debate the "two layers" model of peopling history in SEA and provide an alternative solution for studying challenging ancient human samples from Vietnam.

Extensive genetic admixture between Tai-Kadai-speaking people and their neighbours in the northeastern region of the Yungui Plateau inferred from genome-wide variations

BACKGROUND

Yungui Plateau in Southwest China is characterized by multi-language and multi-ethnic communities and is one of the regions with the wealthiest ethnolinguistic, cultural and genetic diversity in East Asia. There are numerous Tai-Kadai (TK)-speaking populations, but their detailed evolutionary history and biological adaptations are still unclear.

RESULTS

Here, we genotyped genome-wide SNP data of 77 unrelated TK-speaking Zhuang and Dong individuals from the Yungui Plateau and explored their detailed admixture history and adaptive features using clustering patterns, allele frequency differentiation and sharing haplotype patterns. TK-speaking Zhuang and Dong people in Guizhou are closely related to geographically close TK and Hmong-Mien (HM)-speaking populations. Besides, we identified that Guizhou TK-speaking people have a close genetic relationship with Austronesian (AN)-speaking Atayal and Paiwan people, which is supported by the common origin of the ancient Baiyue tribe. We additionally found subtle genetic differences among the newly studied TK people and previously reported Dais via the fine-scale genetic substructure analysis based on the shared haplotype chunks. Finally, we identified specific selection candidate signatures associated with several essential human immune systems and neurological disorders, which could provide evolutionary evidence for the allele frequency distribution pattern of genetic risk loci.

CONCLUSIONS

Our comprehensive genetic characterization of TK people suggested the strong genetic affinity within TK groups and extensive gene flow with geographically close HM and Han people. We also provided genetic evidence that supported the common origin hypothesis of TK and AN people. The best-fitted admixture models further suggested that ancestral sources from northern millet farmers and southern inland and coastal people contributed to the formation of the gene pool of the Zhuang and Dong people.

The genomic diversity of Taiwanese Austronesian groups: Implications for the "Into- and Out-of-Taiwan" models

The origin and dispersal of the Austronesian language family, one of the largest and most widespread in the world, have long attracted the attention of linguists, archaeologists, and geneticists. Even though there is a growing consensus that Taiwan is the source of the spread of Austronesian languages, little is known about the migration patterns of the early Austronesians who settled in and left Taiwan, i.e. the "Into-Taiwan" and "out-of-Taiwan" events. In particular, the genetic diversity and structure within Taiwan and how this relates to the into-/out-of-Taiwan events are largely unexplored, primarily because most genomic studies have largely utilized data from just two of the 16 recognized Highland Austronesian groups in Taiwan. In this study, we generated the largest genome-wide data set of Taiwanese Austronesians to date, including six Highland groups and one Lowland group from across the island and two Taiwanese Han groups. We identified fine-scale genomic structure in Taiwan, inferred the ancestry profile of the ancestors of Austronesians, and found that the southern Taiwanese Austronesians show excess genetic affinities with the Austronesians outside of Taiwan. Our findings thus shed new light on the Into- and Out-of-Taiwan dispersals.

Multiple founding paternal lineages inferred from the newly-developed 639-plex Y-SNP panel suggested the complex admixture and migration history of Chinese people

BACKGROUND

Non-recombining regions of the Y-chromosome recorded the evolutionary traces of male human populations and are inherited haplotype-dependently and male-specifically. Recent whole Y-chromosome sequencing studies have identified previously unrecognized population divergence, expansion and admixture processes, which promotes a better understanding and application of the observed patterns of Y-chromosome genetic diversity.

RESULTS

Here, we developed one highest-resolution Y-chromosome single nucleotide polymorphism (Y-SNP) panel targeted for uniparental genealogy reconstruction and paternal biogeographical ancestry inference, which included 639 phylogenetically informative SNPs. We genotyped these loci in 1033 Chinese male individuals from 33 ethnolinguistically diverse populations and identified 256 terminal Y-chromosomal lineages with frequency ranging from 0.0010 (singleton) to 0.0687. We identified six dominant common founding lineages associated with different ethnolinguistic backgrounds, which included O2a2b1a1a1a1a1a1a1-M6539, O2a1b1a1a1a1a1a1-F17, O2a2b1a1a1a1a1b1a1b-MF15397, O2a2b2a1b1-A16609, O1b1a1a1a1b2a1a1-F2517, and O2a2b1a1a1a1a1a1-F155. The AMOVA and nucleotide diversity estimates revealed considerable differences and high genetic diversity among ethnolinguistically different populations. We constructed one representative phylogenetic tree among 33 studied populations based on the haplogroup frequency spectrum and sequence variations. Clustering patterns in principal component analysis and multidimensional scaling results showed a genetic differentiation between Tai-Kadai-speaking Li, Mongolic-speaking Mongolian, and other Sinitic-speaking Han Chinese populations. Phylogenetic topology inferred from the BEAST and Network relationships reconstructed from the popART further showed the founding lineages from culturally/linguistically diverse populations, such as C2a/C2b was dominant in Mongolian people and O1a/O1b was dominant in island Li people. We also identified many lineages shared by more than two ethnolinguistically different populations with a high proportion, suggesting their extensive admixture and migration history.

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings indicated that our developed high-resolution Y-SNP panel included major dominant Y-lineages of Chinese populations from different ethnic groups and geographical regions, which can be used as the primary and powerful tool for forensic practice. We should emphasize the necessity and importance of whole sequencing of more ethnolinguistically different populations, which can help identify more unrecognized population-specific variations for the promotion of Y-chromosome-based forensic applications.

Human genetic history on the Tibetan Plateau in the past 5100 years

Using genome-wide data of 89 ancient individuals dated to 5100 to 100 years before the present (B.P.) from 29 sites across the Tibetan Plateau, we found plateau-specific ancestry across plateau populations, with substantial genetic structure indicating high differentiation before 2500 B.P. Northeastern plateau populations rapidly showed admixture associated with millet farmers by 4700 B.P. in the Gonghe Basin. High genetic similarity on the southern and southwestern plateau showed population expansion along the Yarlung Tsangpo River since 3400 years ago. Central and southeastern plateau populations revealed extensive genetic admixture within the plateau historically, with substantial ancestry related to that found in southern and southwestern plateau populations. Over the past ~700 years, substantial gene flow from lowland East Asia further shaped the genetic landscape of present-day plateau populations. The high-altitude adaptive EPAS1 allele was found in plateau populations as early as in a 5100-year-old individual and showed a sharp increase over the past 2800 years.

Genome-wide allele and haplotype-sharing patterns suggested one unique Hmong-Mein-related lineage and biological adaptation history in Southwest China

BACKGROUND

Fine-scale genetic structure of ethnolinguistically diverse Chinese populations can fill the gap in the missing diversity and evolutionary landscape of East Asians, particularly for anthropologically informed Chinese minorities. Hmong-Mien (HM) people were one of the most significant indigenous populations in South China and Southeast Asia, which were suggested to be the descendants of the ancient Yangtze rice farmers based on linguistic and archeological evidence. However, their deep population history and biological adaptative features remained to be fully characterized.

OBJECTIVES

To explore the evolutionary and adaptive characteristics of the Miao people, we genotyped genome-wide SNP data in Guizhou HM-speaking populations and merged it with modern and ancient reference populations via a comprehensive population genetic analysis and evolutionary admixture modeling.

RESULTS

The overall genetic admixture landscape of Guizhou Miao showed genetic differentiation between them and other linguistically diverse Guizhou populations. Admixture models further confirmed that Miao people derived their primary ancestry from geographically close Guangxi Gaohuahua people. The estimated identity by descent and effective population size confirmed a plausible population bottleneck, contributing to their unique genetic diversity and population structure patterns. We finally identified several natural selection candidate genes associated with several biological pathways.

CONCLUSIONS

Guizhou Miao possessed a specific genetic structure and harbored a close genetic relationship with geographically close southern Chinese indigenous populations and Guangxi historical people. Miao people derived their major ancestry from geographically close Guangxi Gaohuahua people and experienced a plausible population bottleneck which contributed to the unique pattern of their genetic diversity and structure. Future ancient DNA from Shijiahe and Qujialing will provide new insights into the origin of the Miao people.

Morphometric measurement of lumbar pedicle in different regions: a systematic review

OBJECTIVE

To collect the data of pedicle width and height in different areas, and to investigate the difference and variation rule of pedicle width and height.

METHODS

Comprehensive search of PubMed, Ovid Medline, and Web of science databases was performed. Collected data were imported into SPSS, and one-way ANOVA test and post hoc test were used to determine whether there were statistical differences in pedicle width and height between the different regions.

RESULTS

Oceania had the largest pedicle width and height, followed by Americans. West Asian had the largest pedicle width in Asia, followed by East and Southeast Asian, and Chinese and South Asian had similar pedicle width. Different from the variation pattern of pedicle width, the pedicle height of Chinese, East and Southeast Asian and West Asian in Asian range is similar, but the pedicle height of South Asian is significantly smaller than the first three, and has statistical significance.

CONCLUSIONS

People in different regions have similar patterns of variation in pedicle width and height even though they belong to different ethnic groups. This phenomenon is particularly prominent and pronounced in populations in geographically close areas, which may be related to inter-ethnic integration due to population movement between adjacent areas. There is a relationship between the morphological characteristics of the human lumbar pedicle and geographical location.

Cultural and demic co-diffusion of Tubo Empire on Tibetan Plateau

A high point of Tibetan Plateau (TP) civilization, the expansive Tubo Empire (618-842 AD) wielded great influence across ancient western China. However, whether the Tubo expansion was cultural or demic remains unclear due to sparse ancient DNA sampling. Here, we reported ten ancient genomes at 0.017- to 0.867-fold coverages from the Dulan site with typical Tubo archaeological culture dating to 1308-1130 BP. Nine individuals from three different grave types have close relationship with previously reported ancient highlanders from the southwestern Himalayas and modern core-Tibetan populations. A Dulan-related Tubo ancestry contributed overwhelmingly (95%-100%) to the formation of modern Tibetans. A genetic outlier with dominant Eurasian steppe-related ancestry suggesting a potential population movement into the Tubo-controlled regions from Central Asia. Together with archeological evidence from burial styles and customs, our study suggested the impact of the Tubo empire on the northeast edge of the TP involved both cultural and demic diffusion.

Genetic admixture history and forensic characteristics of Tibeto-Burman-speaking Qiang people explored via the newly developed Y-STR panel and genome-wide SNP data

Fine-scale patterns of population genetic structure and diversity of ethnolinguistically diverse populations are important for biogeographical ancestry inference, kinship testing, and development and validation of new kits focused on forensic personal identification. Analyses focused on forensic markers and genome-wide single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) data can provide new insights into the origin, admixture processes, and forensic characteristics of targeted populations. Qiang people had a large sample size among Tibeto-Burmanspeaking populations, which widely resided in the middle latitude of the Tibetan Plateau. However, their genetic structure and forensic features have remained uncharacterized because of the paucity of comprehensive genetic analyses. Here, we first developed and validated the forensic performance of the AGCU-Y30 Y-short tandem repeats (STR) panel, which contains slowly and moderately mutating Y-STRs, and then we conducted comprehensive population genetic analyses based on Y-STRs and genome-wide SNPs to explore the admixture history of Qiang people and their neighbors. The validated results of this panel showed that the new Y-STR kit was sensitive and robust enough for forensic applications. Haplotype diversity (HD) ranging from 0.9932 to 0.9996 and allelic frequencies ranging from 0.001946 to 0.8326 in 514 Qiang people demonstrated that all included markers were highly polymorphic in Tibeto-Burman people. Population genetic analyses based on Y-STRs [RST, FST, multidimensional scaling (MDS) analysis, neighboring-joining (NJ) tree, principal component analysis (PCA), and median-joining network (MJN)] revealed that the Qiang people harbored a paternally close relationship with lowland Tibetan-Yi corridor populations. Furthermore, we conducted a comprehensive population admixture analysis among modern and ancient Eurasian populations based on genome-wide shared SNPs. We found that the Qiang people were a genetically admixed population and showed closest relationship with Tibetan and Neolithic Yellow River farmers. Admixture modeling showed that Qiang people shared the primary ancestry related to Tibetan, supporting the hypothesis of common origin between Tibetan and Qiang people from North China.

Tracing Bai-Yue Ancestry in Aboriginal Li People on Hainan Island

As the most prevalent aboriginal group on Hainan Island located between South China and the mainland of Southeast Asia, the Li people are believed to preserve some unique genetic information due to their isolated circumstances, although this has been largely uninvestigated. We performed the first whole-genome sequencing of 55 Hainan Li (HNL) individuals with high coverage (∼30-50×) to gain insight into their genetic history and potential adaptations. We identified the ancestry enriched in HNL (∼85%) is well preserved in present-day Tai-Kadai speakers residing in South China and North Vietnam, that is, Bai-Yue populations. A lack of admixture signature due to the geographical restriction exacerbated the bottleneck in the present-day HNL. The genetic divergence among Bai-Yue populations began ∼4,000-3,000 years ago when the proto-HNL underwent migration and the settling of Hainan Island. Finally, we identified signatures of positive selection in the HNL, some outstanding examples included FADS1 and FADS2 related to a diet rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids. In addition, we observed that malaria-driven selection had occurred in the HNL, with population-specific variants of malaria-related genes (e.g., CR1) present. Interestingly, HNL harbors a high prevalence of malaria leveraged gene variants related to hematopoietic function (e.g., CD3G) that may explain the high incidence of blood disorders such as B-cell lymphomas in the present-day HNL. The results have advanced our understanding of the genetic history of the Bai-Yue populations and have provided new insights into the adaptive scenarios of the Li people.

Genetic substructure of Guizhou Tai-Kadai-speaking people inferred from genome-wide single nucleotide polymorphisms data

The genome-wide characteristics and admixture history of the Tai-Kadai-speaking populations are essential for understanding the population genetic diversity in southern China. We genotyped about 700,000 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of 239 individuals from six Tai-Kadai-speaking populations residing in the mountainous Guizhou Province of southwestern China. We merged the genome-wide data with available populations and ancients in East and Southeast Asia to infer Tai-Kadai-speaking populations’ admixture history and genetic structure. We observed a genetic substructure within the studied six populations in the PCA, ADMIXTURE, ChromoPainter, GLOBETROTTER, f-statistics, and qpWave analysis. The Dong, Zhuang, and Bouyei people had a strong genetic affinity with other Tai-Kadai-speaking and Austronesian groups in the surrounding area. However, Gelao showed an affinity to Sino-Tibetan groups, and Mulao people were genetically close to Hmong-Mien populations. qpAdm further illuminated that Gelao and Dong_Tongren composited more Han-related ancestry than Dong, Zhuang, Bouyei, and Mulao people. Meanwhile, we observed high frequencies of Y-chromosome haplogroup O in studied Tai-Kadai-speaking groups except for Gelao people with a high haplogroup N frequency. From the maternal side, haplogroup M7 was frequent in studied populations except for Tongren Dong, who had a high frequency of haplogroup B5. Our newly reported data are helpful for further exploring population dynamics in southern China.

A Late Pleistocene human genome from Southwest China

Southern East Asia is the dispersal center regarding the prehistoric settlement and migrations of modern humans in Asia-Pacific regions. However, the settlement pattern and population structure of paleolithic humans in this region remain elusive, and ancient DNA can provide direct information. Here, we sequenced the genome of a Late Pleistocene hominin (MZR), dated ∼14.0 thousand years ago from Red Deer Cave located in Southwest China, which was previously reported possessing mosaic features of modern and archaic hominins. MZR is the first Late Pleistocene genome from southern East Asia. Our results indicate that MZR is a modern human who represents an early diversified lineage in East Asia. The mtDNA of MZR belongs to an extinct basal lineage of the M9 haplogroup, reflecting a rich matrilineal diversity in southern East Asia during the Late Pleistocene. Combined with the published data, we detected clear genetic stratification in ancient southern populations of East/Southeast Asia and some degree of south-versus-north divergency during the Late Pleistocene, and MZR was identified as a southern East Asian who exhibits genetic continuity to present day populations. Markedly, MZR is linked deeply to the East Asian ancestry that contributed to First Americans.

Genomic Insights Into the Demographic History of the Southern Chinese

Southern China is the birthplace of rice-cultivating agriculture and different language families and has also witnessed various human migrations that facilitated cultural diffusions. The fine-scale demographic history in situ that forms present-day local populations, however, remains unclear. To comprehensively cover the genetic diversity in East and Southeast Asia, we generated genome-wide SNP data from 211 present-day Southern Chinese and co-analyzed them with ∼1,200 ancient and modern genomes. In Southern China, language classification is significantly associated with genetic variation but with a different extent of predictability, and there is strong evidence for recent shared genetic history particularly in Hmong–Mien and Austronesian speakers. A geography-related genetic sub-structure that represents the major genetic variation in Southern East Asians is established pre-Holocene and its extremes are represented by Neolithic Fujianese and First Farmers in Mainland Southeast Asia. This sub-structure is largely reduced by admixture in ancient Southern Chinese since > ∼2,000 BP, which forms a “Southern Chinese Cluster” with a high level of genetic homogeneity. Further admixture characterizes the demographic history of the majority of Hmong–Mien speakers and some Kra-Dai speakers in Southwest China happened ∼1,500–1,000 BP, coeval to the reigns of local chiefdoms. In Yellow River Basin, we identify a connection of local populations to genetic sub-structure in Southern China with geographical correspondence appearing > ∼9,000 BP, while the gene flow likely closely related to “Southern Chinese Cluster” since the Longshan period (∼5,000–4,000 BP) forms ancestry profile of Han Chinese Cline.

Genomic Insights Into the Unique Demographic History and Genetic Structure of Five Hmong-Mien-Speaking Miao and Yao Populations in Southwest China

Southern China was the original center of multiple ancestral populations related to modern Hmong-Mien, Tai-Kadai, Austroasiatic, and Austronesian people. More recent genetic surveys have focused on the fine-scale genetic structure and admixture history of southern Chinese populations, but the genetic formation and diversification of Hmong-Mien speakers are far from clear due to the sparse genetic sampling. Here, we reported nearly 700,000 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) data from 130 Guizhou Miao and Yao individuals. We used principal component analysis, ADMIXTURE, f-statistics, qpAdm, phylogenetic tree, fineSTRUCTURE, and ALDER to explore the fine-scale population genetic structure and admixture pattern of Hmong-Mien people. The sharing allele patterns showed that our studied populations had a strong genetic affinity with ancient and modern groups from southern and southeastern East Asia. We identified one unique ancestry component maximized in Yao people, which widely existed in other Hmong-Mien-speaking populations in southern China and Southeast Asia and ancient samples of Guangxi. Guizhou Hmong-Mien speakers harbored the dominant proportions of ancestry related to southern indigenous East Asians and minor proportions of northern ancestry related to Yellow River farmers, suggesting the possibility of genetic admixture between Hmong-Mien people and recent southward Sino-Tibetan-related populations. Furthermore, we found a genetic substructure among geographically different Miao and Yao people in Leishan and Songtao. The Yao and Miao people in Leishan harbored more southern East Asian ancestry, but Miao in Songtao received more northern East Asian genetic influence. We observed high mtDNA but low Y-chromosome diversity in studied Hmong-Mien groups, supporting the role of sex-specific residence in influencing human genetic variation. Our data provide valuable clues for further exploring population dynamics in southern China.

Genetic Admixture History and Forensic Characteristics of Guizhou Sui People Inferred From Autosomal Insertion/Deletion and Genome-Wide Single-Nucleotide Polymorphisms

Insertion-deletion (Indel) serves as one of the important markers in forensic personal identification and parentage testing, especially for cases with degraded samples. However, the genetic diversity and forensic features in ethnolinguistically diverse southwestern Chinese populations remain to be explored. Sui, one Tai-Kadai-speaking population residing in Guizhou, has a complex genetic history based on linguistic, historic, and anthropological evidence. In this study, we genotyped 30 Indels from 511 Guizhou Sui individuals and obtained approximately 700,000 genome-wide single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in 15 representative Sui individuals to comprehensively characterize the genetic diversity, forensic characteristics, and genomic landscape of Guizhou Sui people. The estimated forensic statistically allele frequency spectrum and parameters demonstrated that this Indels panel was polymorphic and informative in Tai-Kadai populations in southern China. Results of principal component analysis (PCA), STRUCTURE, and phylogenetic trees showed that Guizhou Sui had a close genetic relationship with geographically close Tai-Kadai and Hmong-Mien people. Furthermore, genomic analysis based on the Fst and f4-statistics further suggested the genetic affinity within southern Chinese Tai-Kadai-speaking populations and a close relationship with geographically adjoining Guizhou populations. Admixture models based on the ADMIXTURE, f4, three-way qpAdm, and ALDER results demonstrated the interaction between the common ancestor for Tai-Kadai/Austronesian, Hmong-Mien, and Austroasiatic speaking populations played a significant role in the formation of modern Tai-Kadai people. We observed a sex-biased influence in Sui people by finding that the dominant Y chromosomal type was a Hmong-Mien specific lineage O2a2a1a2a1a2-N5 but the mtDNA lineages were commonly found in Tai-Kadai populations. The additional southward expansion of millet farmers in the Yellow River Basin has impacted the gene pool of southern populations including Tai-Kadai. The whole-genome sequencing in the future will shed more light on the finer genetic profile of Guizhou populations.

Fine-Scale Population Admixture Landscape of Tai–Kadai-Speaking Maonan in Southwest China Inferred From Genome-Wide SNP Data

Guizhou Province harbors extensive ethnolinguistic and cultural diversity with Sino-Tibetan-, Hmong–Mien-, and Tai–Kadai-speaking populations. However, previous genetic analyses mainly focused on the genetic admixture history of the former two linguistic groups. The admixture history of Tai–Kadai-speaking populations in Guizhou needed to be characterized further. Thus, we genotyped genome-wide SNP data from 41 Tai–Kadai-speaking Maonan people and made a comprehensive population genetic analysis to explore their genetic origin and admixture history based on the pattern of the sharing alleles and haplotypes. We found a genetic affinity among geographically different Tai–Kadai-speaking populations, especially for Guizhou Maonan people and reference Maonan from Guangxi. Furthermore, formal tests based on the f₃/f₄-statistics further identified an adjacent connection between Maonan and geographically adjacent Hmong–Mien and Sino-Tibetan people, which was consistent with their historically documented shared material culture (Zhang et al., iScience, 2020, 23, 101032). Fitted qpAdm-based two-way admixture models with ancestral sources from northern and southern East Asians demonstrated that Maonan people were an admixed population with primary ancestry related to Guangxi historical people and a minor proportion of ancestry from Northeast Asians, consistent with their linguistically supported southern China origin. Here, we presented the landscape of genetic structure and diversity of Maonan people and a simple demographic model for their evolutionary process. Further whole-genome-sequence–based projects can be presented with more detailed information about the population history and adaptative history of the Guizhou Maonan people.

Unveiling the Genetic History of the Maniq, a primary hunter-gatherer society

The Maniq of southern Thailand is one of the last remaining practicing hunter-gatherer communities in the world. However, our knowledge on their genetic origins and demographic history is still largely limited. We present here the genotype data covering ∼2.3 million single nucleotide polymorphisms of 11 unrelated Maniq individuals. Our analyses reveal the Maniq to be closely related to the Semang populations of Malaysia (Malay Negritos), who altogether carry an Andamanese-related ancestry linked to the ancient Hòabìnhian hunter-gatherers of Mainland Southeast Asia (MSEA). Moreover, the Maniq possess ∼35% East Asian-related ancestry, likely brought about by recent admixture with surrounding agriculturist communities in the region. In addition, the Maniq exhibit one of the highest levels of genetic differentiation found among living human populations, indicative of their small population size and historical practice of endogamy. Similar to other hunter-gatherer populations of MSEA, we also find the Maniq to possess low levels of Neanderthal ancestry and undetectable levels of Denisovan ancestry. Altogether, we reveal the Maniq to be a Semang group that experienced intense genetic drift and exhibits signs of ancient Hòabìnhian ancestry.

Genomic Insights Into the Population History and Biological Adaptation of Southwestern Chinese Hmong-Mien People

Hmong-Mien (HM) -speaking populations, widely distributed in South China, the north of Thailand, Laos, and Vietnam, have experienced different settlement environments, dietary habits, and pathogenic exposure. However, their specific biological adaptation remained largely uncharacterized, which is important in the population evolutionary genetics and Trans-Omics for regional Precision Medicine. Besides, the origin and genetic diversity of HM people and their phylogenetic relationship with surrounding modern and ancient populations are also unknown. Here, we reported genome-wide SNPs in 52 representative Miao people and combined them with 144 HM people from 13 geographically representative populations to characterize the full genetic admixture and adaptive landscape of HM speakers. We found that obvious genetic substructures existed in geographically different HM populations; one localized in the HM clines, and others possessed affinity with Han Chinese. We also identified one new ancestral lineage specifically existed in HM people, which spatially distributed from Sichuan and Guizhou in the north to Thailand in the south. The sharing patterns of the newly identified homogenous ancestry component combined the estimated admixture times via the decay of linkage disequilibrium and haplotype sharing in GLOBETROTTER suggested that the modern HM-speaking populations originated from Southwest China and migrated southward in the historic period, which is consistent with the reconstructed phenomena of linguistic and archeological documents. Additionally, we identified specific adaptive signatures associated with several important human nervous system biological functions. Our pilot work emphasized the importance of anthropologically informed sampling and deeply genetic structure reconstruction via whole-genome sequencing in the next step in the deep Chinese Population Genomic Diversity Project (CPGDP), especially in the regions with rich ethnolinguistic diversity.

The Genetic Structure and East-West Population Admixture in Northwest China Inferred From Genome-Wide Array Genotyping

Northwest China is a contacting region for East and West Eurasia and an important center for investigating the migration and admixture history of human populations. However, the comprehensive genetic structure and admixture history of the Altaic speaking populations and Hui group in Northwest China were still not fully characterized due to insufficient sampling and the lack of genome-wide data. Thus, We genotyped genome-wide SNPs for 140 individuals from five Chinese Mongolic, Turkic speaking groups including Dongxiang, Bonan, Yugur, and Salar, as well as the Hui group. Analysis based on allele-sharing and haplotype-sharing were used to elucidate the population history of Northwest Chinese populations, including PCA, ADMIXTURE, pairwise Fst genetic distance, f-statistics, qpWave/qpAdm and ALDER, fineSTRUCTURE and GLOBETROTTER. We observed Dongxiang, Bonan, Yugur, Salar, and Hui people were admixed populations deriving ancestry from both East and West Eurasians, with the proportions of West Eurasian related contributions ranging from 9 to 15%. The genetic admixture was probably driven by male-biased migration- showing a higher frequency of West Eurasian related Y chromosomal lineages than that of mtDNA detected in Northwest China. ALDER-based admixture and haplotype-based GLOBETROTTER showed this observed West Eurasian admixture signal was introduced into East Eurasia approximately 700 ∼1,000 years ago. Generally, our findings provided supporting evidence that the flourish transcontinental communication between East and West Eurasia played a vital role in the genetic formation of northwest Chinese populations.

Inferring the population structure and admixture history of three Hmong-Mien-speaking Miao tribes from southwest China based on Genome-wide SNP genotyping

BACKGROUND

Hmong-Mien speaking Miao, also called Hmong, is the sixthlargest ethnic group in mainland China. However, the fine-scale genetic profiles and population history of Miao populations in southwest China, especially in Guizhou province, remain uncharacterised due to a scarcity of samples of genome-wide data from different tribes.

AIM

To further investigate the population substructure and admixture history of the Guizhou Miao minority.

SUBJECTS AND METHODS

We collected 29 samples from three Miao tribes of Guizhou province in southwest China and genotyped about 700,000 genome-wide SNPs of each sample. We analysed newly generated data in together with published modern/ancient East Asian populations datasets via a series of population genetic methods, including principal component analysis (PCA), ADMIXTURE, Fst, TreeMix, f-statistics, qpWave, and qpAdm.

RESULTS

PCA and ADMIXTURE results showed that the three studied Guizhou Miao groups consistently fell on the Hmong-Mien-related genetic cline and were relatively genetically homogeneous, displayingd a genetic affinity with neighbouring Tai-Kadai speaking populations such as Dong. These results were further confirmed by the observed genetic clade in Fst, TreeMix, outgroup-f₃ -statistics, and f₄ -statistics. Furthermore, f₄ -based allele sharing patterns illustrated that compared with Hunan Miao in central China, Guizhou Miao shared more alleles with Hmong-Mien-speaking Vietnam Hmong and Tai-Kadai-speaking CoLao, Dong, while exhibiting less northeast Asian-related ancestry. Admixture-f₃ and f₄ statistics revealed the North-South admixture pattern for the studied Guizhou Miao. A qpAdm-based two-way admixture model further revealed that the studied Guizhou Miao harboured 44%∼55.4% indigenous Austronesian-speaking Atayal-related ancestry and 44.6%∼56% Late Neolithic Yellow River farmer-related ancestry.

CONCLUSIONS

The population structure within Hmong-Mien-related populations showed a geographic correlation. Hmong-Mien speaking Hunan Miao, Guizhou Miao, and Vietnam Hmong presented closer genetic relationships although they dwelt in different regions, suggesting the preservation of the original Hmong-related genetic diversity. The results based on genome-wide SNPs data generally matched the migration history for the Miao population. Our study contributes to a better knowledge of Miao populations and the population structure in southwest China.

Female craniometrics support the 'two-layer model' of human dispersal in Eastern Eurasia

This study reports a cranio-morphometric analysis of female human remains from seven archaeological sites in China, Vietnam and Taiwan that date between 16,000 and 5300 BP. The aim of the analysis is to test the “two-layer” model of human dispersal in eastern Eurasia, using previously unanalysed female remains to balance the large sample of previously-analysed males. The resulting craniometric data indicate that the examined specimens all belong to the “first layer” of dispersal, and share a common ancestor with recent Australian and Papuan populations, and the ancient Jomon people of Japan. The analysed specimens pre-date the expansion of agricultural populations of East/Northeast Asian origin—that is, the “second layer” of human dispersal proposed by the model. As a result of this study, the two-layer model, which has hitherto rested on evidence only from male skeletons, is now strongly supported by female-derived data. Further comparisons reveal that the people of the first layer were closer in terms of their facial morphology to modern Africans and Sri Lankan Veddah than to modern Asians and Europeans, suggesting that the Late Pleistocene through Middle Holocene hunter-gatherers examined in this study were direct descendants of the anatomically modern humans who first migrated out of Africa through southern Eurasia.

Genomic Insight Into the Population Structure and Admixture History of Tai-Kadai-Speaking Sui People in Southwest China

Sui people, which belong to the Tai-Kadai-speaking family, remain poorly characterized due to a lack of genome-wide data. To infer the fine-scale population genetic structure and putative genetic sources of the Sui people, we genotyped 498,655 genome-wide single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) using SNP arrays in 68 Sui individuals from seven indigenous populations in Guizhou province and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in Southwest China and co-analyzed with available East Asians via a series of population genetic methods including principal component analysis (PCA), ADMIXTURE, pairwise Fst genetic distance, f-statistics, qpWave, and qpAdm. Our results revealed that Guangxi and Guizhou Sui people showed a strong genetic affinity with populations from southern China and Southeast Asia, especially Tai-Kadai- and Hmong-Mien-speaking populations as well as ancient Iron Age Taiwan Hanben, Gongguan individuals supporting the hypothesis that Sui people came from southern China originally. The indigenous Tai-Kadai-related ancestry (represented by Li), Northern East Asian-related ancestry, and Hmong-Mien-related lineage contributed to the formation processes of the Sui people. We identified the genetic substructure within Sui groups: Guizhou Sui people were relatively homogeneous and possessed similar genetic profiles with neighboring Tai-Kadai-related populations, such as Maonan. While Sui people in Yizhou and Huanjiang of Guangxi might receive unique, additional gene flow from Hmong-Mien-speaking populations and Northern East Asians, respectively, after the divergence within other Sui populations. Sui people could be modeled as the admixture of ancient Yellow River Basin farmer-related ancestry (36.2-54.7%) and ancient coastal Southeast Asian-related ancestry (45.3-63.8%). We also identified the potential positive selection signals related to the disease susceptibility in Sui people via integrated haplotype score (iHS) and number of segregating sites by length (nSL) scores. These genomic findings provided new insights into the demographic history of Tai-Kadai-speaking Sui people and their interaction with neighboring populations in Southern China.

Insights into human history from the first decade of ancient human genomics

[Figure: see text].

Fine-Scale Genetic Structure and Natural Selection Signatures of Southwestern Hans Inferred From Patterns of Genome-Wide Allele, Haplotype, and Haplogroup Lineages

The evolutionary and admixture history of Han Chinese have been widely discussed via traditional autosomal and uniparental genetic markers [e.g., short tandem repeats, low-density single nucleotide polymorphisms). However, their fine-scale genetic landscapes (admixture scenarios and natural selection signatures) based on the high-density allele/haplotype sharing patterns have not been deeply characterized. Here, we collected and generated genome-wide data of 50 Han Chinese individuals from four populations in Guizhou Province, one of the most ethnolinguistically diverse regions, and merged it with over 3,000 publicly available modern and ancient Eurasians to describe the genetic origin and population admixture history of Guizhou Hans and their neighbors. PCA and ADMIXTURE results showed that the studied four populations were homogeneous and grouped closely to central East Asians. Genetic homogeneity within Guizhou populations was further confirmed via the observed strong genetic affinity with inland Hmong-Mien people through the observed genetic clade in Fst and outgroup f₃/f₄-statistics. qpGraph-based phylogenies and f₄-based demographic models illuminated that Guizhou Hans were well fitted via the admixture of ancient Yellow River Millet farmers related to Lajia people and southern Yangtze River farmers related to Hanben people. Further ChromoPainter-based chromosome painting profiles and GLOBETROTTER-based admixture signatures confirmed the two best source matches for southwestern Hans, respectively, from northern Shaanxi Hans and southern indigenes with variable mixture proportions in the historical period. Further three-way admixture models revealed larger genetic contributions from coastal southern East Asians into Guizhou Hans compared with the proposed inland ancient source from mainland Southeast Asia. We also identified candidate loci (e.g., MTUS2, NOTCH4, EDAR, ADH1B, and ABCG2) with strong natural selection signatures in Guizhou Hans via iHS, nSL, and ihh, which were associated with the susceptibility of the multiple complex diseases, morphology formation, alcohol and lipid metabolism. Generally, we provided a case and ideal strategy to reconstruct the detailed demographic evolutionary history of Guizhou Hans, which provided new insights into the fine-scale genomic formation of one ethnolinguistically specific targeted population from the comprehensive perspectives of the shared unlinked alleles, linked haplotypes, and paternal and maternal lineages.

Peopling History of the Tibetan Plateau and Multiple Waves of Admixture of Tibetans Inferred From Both Ancient and Modern Genome-Wide Data

Archeologically attested human occupation on the Tibetan Plateau (TP) can be traced back to 160 thousand years ago (kya) via the archaic Xiahe people and 30∼40 kya via the Nwya Devu anatomically modern human. However, the history of the Tibetan populations and their migration inferred from the ancient and modern DNA remains unclear. Here, we performed the first ancient and modern genomic meta-analysis among 3,017 Paleolithic to present-day Eastern Eurasian genomes (2,444 modern individuals from 183 populations and 573 ancient individuals). We identified a close genetic connection between the ancient-modern highland Tibetans and lowland island/coastal Neolithic Northern East Asians (NEA). This observed genetic affinity reflected the primary ancestry of high-altitude Tibeto-Burman speakers originated from the Neolithic farming populations in the Yellow River Basin. The identified pattern was consistent with the proposed common north-China origin hypothesis of the Sino-Tibetan languages and dispersal patterns of the northern millet farmers. We also observed the genetic differentiation between the highlanders and lowland NEAs. The former harbored more deeply diverged Hoabinhian/Onge-related ancestry and the latter possessed more Neolithic southern East Asian (SEA) or Siberian-related ancestry. Our reconstructed qpAdm and qpGraph models suggested the co-existence of Paleolithic and Neolithic ancestries in the Neolithic to modern East Asian highlanders. Additionally, we found that Tibetans from Ü-Tsang/Ando/Kham regions showed a strong population stratification consistent with their cultural background and geographic terrain. Ü-Tsang Tibetans possessed a stronger Chokhopani-affinity, Ando Tibetans had more Western Eurasian related ancestry and Kham Tibetans harbored greater Neolithic southern EA ancestry. Generally, ancient and modern genomes documented multiple waves of human migrations in the TP's past. The first layer of local hunter-gatherers mixed with incoming millet farmers and arose the Chokhopani-associated Proto-Tibetan-Burman highlanders, which further respectively mixed with additional genetic contributors from the western Eurasian Steppe, Yellow River and Yangtze River and finally gave rise to the modern Ando, Ü-Tsang and Kham Tibetans.

Before and after farming: The genetic structure of South China and Southeast Asia

In this issue of Cell, Wang et al. harness ancient DNA methods to produce and analyze new genomic data from 31 individuals from South China, dated between 500 and 10,000-12,000 years ago. The study reveals a complex interplay between groups of three different genetic ancestries and provides a new perspective on interactions and agricultural dispersals in South China and Southeast Asia.