Whole-genome genetic diversity in a sample of Australians with deep Aboriginal ancestry

Ancestral Origins and Admixture History of Kazakhs

Kazakh people, like many other populations that settled in Central Asia, demonstrate an array of mixed anthropological features of East Eurasian (EEA) and West Eurasian (WEA) populations, indicating a possible scenario of biological admixture between already differentiated EEA and WEA populations. However, their complex biological origin, genomic makeup, and genetic interaction with surrounding populations are not well understood. To decipher their genetic structure and population history, we conducted, to our knowledge, the first whole-genome sequencing study of Kazakhs residing in Xinjiang (KZK). We demonstrated that KZK derived their ancestries from 4 ancestral source populations: East Asian (∼39.7%), West Asian (∼28.6%), Siberian (∼23.6%), and South Asian (∼8.1%). The recognizable interactions of EEA and WEA ancestries in Kazakhs were dated back to the 15th century BCE. Kazakhs were genetically distinctive from the Uyghurs in terms of their overall genomic makeup, although the 2 populations were closely related in genetics, and both showed a substantial admixture of western and eastern peoples. Notably, we identified a considerable sex-biased admixture, with an excess of western males and eastern females contributing to the KZK gene pool. We further identified a set of genes that showed remarkable differentiation in KZK from the surrounding populations, including those associated with skin color (SLC24A5, OCA2), essential hypertension (HLA-DQB1), hypertension (MTHFR, SLC35F3), and neuron development (CNTNAP2). These results advance our understanding of the complex history of contacts between Western and Eastern Eurasians, especially those living or along the old Silk Road.

Indigenous Australian genomes show deep structure and rich novel variation

The Indigenous peoples of Australia have a rich linguistic and cultural history. How this relates to genetic diversity remains largely unknown because of their limited engagement with genomic studies. Here we analyse the genomes of 159 individuals from four remote Indigenous communities, including people who speak a language (Tiwi) not from the most widespread family (Pama-Nyungan). This large collection of Indigenous Australian genomes was made possible by careful community engagement and consultation. We observe exceptionally strong population structure across Australia, driven by divergence times between communities of 26,000-35,000 years ago and long-term low but stable effective population sizes. This demographic history, including early divergence from Papua New Guinean (47,000 years ago) and Eurasian groups1, has generated the highest proportion of previously undescribed genetic variation seen outside Africa and the most extended homozygosity compared with global samples. A substantial proportion of this variation is not observed in global reference panels or clinical datasets, and variation with predicted functional consequence is more likely to be homozygous than in other populations, with consequent implications for medical genomics2. Our results show that Indigenous Australians are not a single homogeneous genetic group and their genetic relationship with the peoples of New Guinea is not uniform. These patterns imply that the full breadth of Indigenous Australian genetic diversity remains uncharacterized, potentially limiting genomic medicine and equitable healthcare for Indigenous Australians.

Human Genetic Research in Wallacea and Sahul: Recent Findings and Future Prospects

Genomic sequence data from worldwide human populations have provided a range of novel insights into our shared ancestry and the historical migrations that have shaped our global genetic diversity. However, a comprehensive understanding of these fundamental questions has been impeded by the lack of inclusion of many Indigenous populations in genomic surveys, including those from the Wallacean archipelago (which comprises islands of present-day Indonesia located east and west of Wallace's and Lydekker's Lines, respectively) and the former continent of Sahul (which once combined New Guinea and Australia during lower sea levels in the Pleistocene). Notably, these regions have been important areas of human evolution throughout the Late Pleistocene, as documented by diverse fossil and archaeological records which attest to the regional presence of multiple hominin species prior to the arrival of anatomically modern human (AMH) migrants. In this review, we collate and discuss key findings from the past decade of population genetic and phylogeographic literature focussed on the hominin history in Wallacea and Sahul. Specifically, we examine the evidence for the timing and direction of the ancient AMH migratory movements and subsequent hominin mixing events, emphasising several novel but consistent results that have important implications for addressing these questions. Finally, we suggest potentially lucrative directions for future genetic research in this key region of human evolution.

The PAR4 platelet thrombin receptor variant rs773902 does not impact the incidence of thrombotic or bleeding events in a healthy older population

BACKGROUND

Protease-activated receptor 4 (PAR4) is a platelet thrombin receptor important for thrombosis and a target of anti-platelet drug development. A frequently occurring single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP; rs773902) causes a PAR4 sequence variant (NC_000019.10:p.Ala120Thr) whereby platelets from Thr120-expressing individuals are hyper-responsive to PAR4 agonists versus platelets from Ala120-expressing individuals. However, whether this enhanced platelet responsiveness translates to increased thrombotic risk or decreased bleeding risk remains unknown.

OBJECTIVES

To examine the association of rs773902 with adjudicated cardiovascular events and aspirin use in a randomized trial population of healthy older individuals.

PATIENTS/METHODS

We analyzed 13,547 participants in the ASPirin in Reducing Events in the Elderly (ASPREE) trial. Participants had no previous cardiovascular events at enrollment and were randomized to either 100 mg daily aspirin or placebo for a median follow-up of 4.7 years. Total genotypes were 8,761 (65%) GG (Ala120 variant), 4,303 (32%) heterozygotes, and 483 (4%) AA (Thr120 variant). Cox proportional hazard regression tested the relationship between rs773902 and thrombotic events (major adverse cardiovascular events [MACE] and ischemic stroke [IS]) and bleeding (major hemorrhage [MHEM] and intracranial bleeding [ICB]).

RESULTS

No statistically significant association was observed overall or by treatment group between rs773902 and any thrombotic or bleeding event examined. Further, there was no significant interaction between rs773902 and treatment for any of MACE, IS, MHEM, or ICB.

CONCLUSIONS

This post-hoc analysis of a prospective cohort study suggests that, despite sensitizing platelet activation, the rs773902 PAR4 variant is not associated with thrombotic cardiovascular or bleeding events in a healthy older population.

Health Disparities among Australia's Remote-Dwelling Aboriginal People: A Report from 2020

BACKGROUND

Australia has 2 distinct indigenous groups, Torres Strait Islanders and Aborigines. The Aborigines, described in this report, first colonized the continent 65 millennia ago. Those still living in the Northern Territory (NT) retain much ancestrally derived genetic complement but also are the most health-challenged by environment and lifestyle in 21st century. Reports providing overviews of these disparities are, as yet, rare.

CONTENT

This review defines the studied population and then describes and attempts to explain contemporary clinical findings among Australia's remote-dwelling Aborigines, principally in the NT. The report is structured by life stage and then by organ system. Finally, a brief synthesis is advanced concerning the disparities that Australia's Aboriginals face.

SUMMARY

In 2015-2017, NT aboriginal life expectancy for people then born was 66.6 years for men and 69.9 years for women compared with 78.1 and 82.7 years, respectively, among nonindigenous Territorians. Principal causes of the reduced longevity, with nonindigenous comparisons, include adolescent pregnancy, with maternal use of alcohol and tobacco (each 7-fold greater); fetal alcohol spectrum disorder and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder; skin infections, both scabies and impetigo (50-fold greater); rheumatic heart disease (260-fold greater); premature acute myocardial infarction (9-fold greater); bronchiectasis (40-fold greater); lung cancer (2-fold greater); diabetes mellitus (10-fold greater); renal failure (30-fold greater); and suicide (2-fold greater). Some disease has genetic roots, secondary to prolonged genetic drift. Much arises from avoidable stressors and from contemporary environmental disparities in housing. The Europid diet is also not helpful.

The CHEK2 Variant C.349A>G Is Associated with Prostate Cancer Risk and Carriers Share a Common Ancestor

The identification of recurrent founder variants in cancer predisposing genes may have important implications for implementing cost-effective targeted genetic screening strategies. In this study, we evaluated the prevalence and relative risk of the CHEK2 recurrent variant c.349A>G in a series of 462 Portuguese patients with early-onset and/or familial/hereditary prostate cancer (PrCa), as well as in the large multicentre PRACTICAL case-control study comprising 55,162 prostate cancer cases and 36,147 controls. Additionally, we investigated the potential shared ancestry of the carriers by performing identity-by-descent, haplotype and age estimation analyses using high-density SNP data from 70 variant carriers belonging to 11 different populations included in the PRACTICAL consortium. The CHEK2 missense variant c.349A>G was found significantly associated with an increased risk for PrCa (OR 1.9; 95% CI: 1.1-3.2). A shared haplotype flanking the variant in all carriers was identified, strongly suggesting a common founder of European origin. Additionally, using two independent statistical algorithms, implemented by DMLE+2.3 and ESTIAGE, we were able to estimate the age of the variant between 2300 and 3125 years. By extending the haplotype analysis to 14 additional carrier families, a shared core haplotype was revealed among all carriers matching the conserved region previously identified in the high-density SNP analysis. These findings are consistent with CHEK2 c.349A>G being a founder variant associated with increased PrCa risk, suggesting its potential usefulness for cost-effective targeted genetic screening in PrCa families.

Analysis of the F2LR3 (PAR4) Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (rs773902) in an Indigenous Australian Population

The F2RL3 gene encoding protease activated receptor 4 (PAR4) contains a single nucleotide variant, rs773902, that is functional. The resulting PAR4 variants, Thr120, and Ala120, are known to differently affect platelet reactivity to thrombin. Significant population differences in the frequency of the allele indicate it may be an important determinant in the ethnic differences that exist in thrombosis and hemostasis, and for patient outcomes to PAR antagonist anti-platelet therapies. Here we determined the frequency of rs773902 in an Indigenous Australian group comprising 467 individuals from the Tiwi Islands. These people experience high rates of renal disease that may be related to platelet and PAR4 function and are potential recipients of PAR-antagonist treatments. The rs773902 minor allele frequency (Thr120) in the Tiwi Islanders was 0.32, which is similar to European and Asian groups and substantially lower than Melanesians and some African groups. Logistic regression and allele distortion testing revealed no significant associations between the variant and several markers of renal function, as well as blood glucose and blood pressure. These findings suggest that rs773902 is not an important determinant for renal disease in this Indigenous Australian group. However, the relationships between rs773902 genotype and platelet and drug responsiveness in the Tiwi, and the allele frequency in other Indigenous Australian groups should be evaluated.

Single haplotype admixture models using large scale HLA genotype frequencies to reproduce human admixture

The human leukocyte antigen (HLA) is the most polymorphic region in humans. Anthropologists use HLA to trace populations' migration and evolution. However, recent admixture between populations can mask the ancestral haplotype frequency distribution. We present a statistical method based on high-resolution HLA haplotype frequencies to resolve population admixture using a non-negative matrix factorization formalism and validated using haplotype frequencies from 56 world populations. The result is a minimal set of source components (SCs) decoding roughly 90% of the total variance in the studied admixtures. These SCs agree with the geographical distribution, phylogenies, and recent admixture events of the studied groups. With the growing population of multi-ethnic individuals, or individuals that do not report race/ethnic information, the HLA matching process for stem-cell and solid organ transplants is becoming more challenging. The presented algorithm provides a framework that facilitates the breakdown of highly admixed populations into SCs, which can be used to better match the rapidly growing population of multi-ethnic individuals worldwide.

Tracing Ancient Human Migrations into Sahul Using Hepatitis B Virus Genomes

The entry point and timing of ancient human migration into continental Sahul (the combined landmass of Australia, New Guinea, and Tasmania) are subject to debate. Unique strains of hepatitis B virus (HBV) are endemic among modern-day Australian Aboriginals (HBV/C4) and Indigenous Melanesians (HBV/C3). We postulated that HBV genomes could be used to infer human population movements because the main HBV transmission route in endemic populations is via mother-to-child for genotypes B and C infections. Phylogenetic and phylogeographic analyses of HBV genomes inferred the origin of HBV/C4 to be >59 thousand years ago (ka) (95% HPD: 34-85 ka), and most likely to have occurred on the Sunda Shelf (southeast extension of the continental shelf of Southeast Asia). Our analysis further suggested an age of >51 ka (95% Highest Posterior Density (HPD): 36-67 ka) for the most recent common ancestor of HBV/C4 in Australia, correlating with the arrival time of anatomically modern humans into Australia, with the entry point suggested along a southern route via Timor. While we also inferred the origin of HBC/C3 to be on the Sunda Shelf, our analyses suggested that it was carried into Melanesia by Indigenous Melanesians who migrated through New Guinea north of the highlands. These findings reveal that HBV genomes can be used to infer ancient human population movements.

Elucidating biogeographical patterns in Australian native canids using genome wide SNPs

Dingoes play a strong role in Australia's ecological framework as the apex predator but are under threat from hybridization and agricultural control programs. Government legislation lists the conservation of the dingo as an important aim, yet little is known about the biogeography of this enigmatic canine, making conservation difficult. Mitochondrial and Y chromosome DNA studies show evidence of population structure within the dingo. Here, we present the data from Illumina HD canine chip genotyping for 23 dingoes from five regional populations, and five New Guinea Singing Dogs to further explore patterns of biogeography using genome-wide data. Whole genome single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) data supported the presence of three distinct dingo populations (or ESUs) subject to geographical subdivision: southeastern (SE), Fraser Island (FI) and northwestern (NW). These ESUs should be managed discretely. The FI dingoes are a known reservoir of pure, genetically distinct dingoes. Elevated inbreeding coefficients identified here suggest this population may be genetically compromised and in need of rescue; current lethal management strategies that do not consider genetic information should be suspended until further data can be gathered. D statistics identify evidence of historical admixture or ancestry sharing between southeastern dingoes and South East Asian village dogs. Conservation efforts on mainland Australia should focus on the SE dingo population that is under pressure from domestic dog hybridization and high levels of lethal control. Further data concerning the genetic health, demographics and prevalence of hybridization in the SE and FI dingo populations is urgently needed to develop evidence based conservation and management strategies.

The Gateway from Near into Remote Oceania: New Insights from Genome-Wide Data

A widely accepted two-wave scenario of human settlement of Oceania involves the first out-of-Africa migration circa 50,000 years ago (ya), and the more recent Austronesian expansion, which reached the Bismarck Archipelago by 3,450 ya. Whereas earlier genetic studies provided evidence for extensive sex-biased admixture between the incoming and the indigenous populations, some archaeological, linguistic, and genetic evidence indicates a more complicated picture of settlement. To study regional variation in Oceania in more detail, we have compiled a genome-wide data set of 823 individuals from 72 populations (including 50 populations from Oceania) and over 620,000 autosomal single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). We show that the initial dispersal of people from the Bismarck Archipelago into Remote Oceania occurred in a "leapfrog" fashion, completely by-passing the main chain of the Solomon Islands, and that the colonization of the Solomon Islands proceeded in a bidirectional manner. Our results also support a divergence between western and eastern Solomons, in agreement with the sharp linguistic divide known as the Tryon-Hackman line. We also report substantial post-Austronesian gene flow across the Solomons. In particular, Santa Cruz (in Remote Oceania) exhibits extraordinarily high levels of Papuan ancestry that cannot be explained by a simple bottleneck/founder event scenario. Finally, we use simulations to show that discrepancies between different methods for dating admixture likely reflect different sensitivities of the methods to multiple admixture events from the same (or similar) sources. Overall, this study points to the importance of fine-scale sampling to understand the complexities of human population history.

The origin and expansion of Pama-Nyungan languages across Australia

It remains a mystery how Pama-Nyungan, the world's largest hunter-gatherer language family, came to dominate the Australian continent. Some argue that social or technological advantages allowed rapid language replacement from the Gulf Plains region during the mid-Holocene. Others have proposed expansions from refugia linked to climatic changes after the last ice age or, more controversially, during the initial colonization of Australia. Here, we combine basic vocabulary data from 306 Pama-Nyungan languages with Bayesian phylogeographic methods to explicitly model the expansion of the family across Australia and test between these origin scenarios. We find strong and robust support for a Pama-Nyungan origin in the Gulf Plains region during the mid-Holocene, implying rapid replacement of non-Pama-Nyungan languages. Concomitant changes in the archaeological record, together with a lack of strong genetic evidence for Holocene population expansion, suggests that Pama-Nyungan languages were carried as part of an expanding package of cultural innovations that probably facilitated the absorption and assimilation of existing hunter-gatherer groups.

CTG18.1 Expansion in TCF4 Among African Americans With Fuchs' Corneal Dystrophy

Purpose

Studies of Fuchs' dystrophy have largely focused on individuals of European origin. Characterization of disease among African Americans is required to ensure prognostic factors and therapeutic approaches are applicable across diverse patient populations.

Methods

We assessed all self-reported black and white patients aged older than 40 years at a tertiary care institution with a diagnosis of cataract over a 3-year period for concurrent diagnosis of Fuchs' dystrophy. Affected patients in a longitudinal cohort were invited to provide a blood sample from which we extracted genomic DNA. The CTG18.1 trinucleotide repeat length was determined using a two-step, triplet repeat primed PCR protocol. Expansion was defined as >40 CTG repeats. Demographic information, including race, was documented.

Results

Of 59,365 self-reported black and white adults who presented for cataract evaluation, the odds ratio of presenting with Fuchs' dystrophy among black compared to white patients was 0.6992 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.6210–0.7872). A total of 60 black and 549 white patients with Fuchs' corneal dystrophy enrolled in the longitudinal study, of which 21 (35.0%) black and 343 (62.5%) white patients demonstrated trinucleotide repeat expansion, a significant difference (P = 7.7 × 10⁻⁵). In a multivariable linear regression model, repeat expansion but not race was significantly associated with mean clinical grading of severity.

Conclusions

Black patients with Fuchs' dystrophy were less likely than white patients to demonstrate CTG18.1 allele expansion. The data contribute to our understanding of population differences in clinical presentation, and highlight the need for considering diversity of patient populations in clinical research.

Conservation implications for dingoes from the maternal and paternal genome: Multiple populations, dog introgression, and demography

It is increasingly common for apex predators to face a multitude of complex conservation issues. In Australia, dingoes are the mainland apex predator and play an important role in ecological functioning. Currently, however, they are threatened by hybridization with modern domestic dogs in the wild. As a consequence, we explore how increasing our understanding of the evolutionary history of dingoes can inform management and conservation decisions. Previous research on whole mitochondrial genome and nuclear data from five geographical populations showed evidence of two distinct lineages of dingo. Here, we present data from a broader survey of dingoes around Australia using both mitochondrial and Y chromosome markers and investigate the timing of demographic expansions. Biogeographic data corroborate the presence of at least two geographically subdivided genetic populations, southeastern and northwestern. Demographic modeling suggests that dingoes have undergone population expansion in the last 5,000 years. It is not clear whether this stems from expansion into vacant niches after the extinction of thylacines on the mainland or indicates the arrival date of dingoes. Male dispersal is much more common than female, evidenced by more diffuse Y haplogroup distributions. There is also evidence of likely historical male biased introgression from domestic dogs into dingoes, predominately within southeastern Australia. These findings have critical practical implications for the management and conservation of dingoes in Australia; particularly a focus must be placed upon the threatened southeastern dingo population.

Carriers of mitochondrial DNA macrohaplogroup R colonized Eurasia and Australasia from a southeast Asia core area

BACKGROUND

The colonization of Eurasia and Australasia by African modern humans has been explained, nearly unanimously, as the result of a quick southern coastal dispersal route through the Arabian Peninsula, the Indian subcontinent, and the Indochinese Peninsula, to reach Australia around 50 kya. The phylogeny and phylogeography of the major mitochondrial DNA Eurasian haplogroups M and N have played the main role in giving molecular genetics support to that scenario. However, using the same molecular tools, a northern route across central Asia has been invoked as an alternative that is more conciliatory with the fossil record of East Asia. Here, we assess as the Eurasian macrohaplogroup R fits in the northern path.

RESULTS

Haplogroup U, with a founder age around 50 kya, is one of the oldest clades of macrohaplogroup R in western Asia. The main branches of U expanded in successive waves across West, Central and South Asia before the Last Glacial Maximum. All these dispersions had rather overlapping ranges. Some of them, as those of U6 and U3, reached North Africa. At the other end of Asia, in Wallacea, another branch of macrohaplogroup R, haplogroup P, also independently expanded in the area around 52 kya, in this case as isolated bursts geographically well structured, with autochthonous branches in Australia, New Guinea, and the Philippines.

CONCLUSIONS

Coeval independently dispersals around 50 kya of the West Asia haplogroup U and the Wallacea haplogroup P, points to a halfway core area in southeast Asia as the most probable centre of expansion of macrohaplogroup R, what fits in the phylogeographic pattern of its ancestor, macrohaplogroup N, for which a northern route and a southeast Asian origin has been already proposed.

Aboriginal Australian mitochondrial genome variation - an increased understanding of population antiquity and diversity

Aboriginal Australians represent one of the oldest continuous cultures outside Africa, with evidence indicating that their ancestors arrived in the ancient landmass of Sahul (present-day New Guinea and Australia) ~55 thousand years ago. Genetic studies, though limited, have demonstrated both the uniqueness and antiquity of Aboriginal Australian genomes. We have further resolved known Aboriginal Australian mitochondrial haplogroups and discovered novel indigenous lineages by sequencing the mitogenomes of 127 contemporary Aboriginal Australians. In particular, the more common haplogroups observed in our dataset included M42a, M42c, S, P5 and P12, followed by rarer haplogroups M15, M16, N13, O, P3, P6 and P8. We propose some major phylogenetic rearrangements, such as in haplogroup P where we delinked P4a and P4b and redefined them as P4 (New Guinean) and P11 (Australian), respectively. Haplogroup P2b was identified as a novel clade potentially restricted to Torres Strait Islanders. Nearly all Aboriginal Australian mitochondrial haplogroups detected appear to be ancient, with no evidence of later introgression during the Holocene. Our findings greatly increase knowledge about the geographic distribution and phylogenetic structure of mitochondrial lineages that have survived in contemporary descendants of Australia’s first settlers.

Contextualizing Genetics for Regional Heart Failure Care

Congestive heart failure (CHF) is a chronic and often devastating cardiovascular disorder with no cure. There has been much advancement in the last two decades that has seen improvements in morbidity and mortality. Clinicians have also noted variations in the responses to therapies. More detailed observations also point to clusters of diseases, phenotypic groupings, unusual severity and the rates at which CHF occurs. Medical genetics is playing an increasingly important role in answering some of these observations. This developing field in many respects provides more information than is currently clinically applicable. This includes making sense of the established single gene mutations or uncommon private mutations. In this thematic series which discusses the many factors that could be relevant for CHF care, once established treatments are available in the communities; this section addresses a contextual role for medical genetics.

Mitochondrial DNA diversity of present-day Aboriginal Australians and implications for human evolution in Oceania

Aboriginal Australians are one of the more poorly studied populations from the standpoint of human evolution and genetic diversity. Thus, to investigate their genetic diversity, the possible date of their ancestors' arrival and their relationships with neighboring populations, we analyzed mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) diversity in a large sample of Aboriginal Australians. Selected mtDNA single-nucleotide polymorphisms and the hypervariable segment haplotypes were analyzed in 594 Aboriginal Australians drawn from locations across the continent, chiefly from regions not previously sampled. Most (~78%) samples could be assigned to mtDNA haplogroups indigenous to Australia. The indigenous haplogroups were all ancient (with estimated ages >40 000 years) and geographically widespread across the continent. The most common haplogroup was P (44%) followed by S (23%) and M42a (9%). There was some geographic structure at the haplotype level. The estimated ages of the indigenous haplogroups range from 39 000 to 55 000 years, dates that fit well with the estimated date of colonization of Australia based on archeological evidence (~47 000 years ago). The distribution of mtDNA haplogroups in Australia and New Guinea supports the hypothesis that the ancestors of Aboriginal Australians entered Sahul through at least two entry points. The mtDNA data give no support to the hypothesis of secondary gene flow into Australia during the Holocene, but instead suggest long-term isolation of the continent.

New insights on the history of canids in Oceania based on mitochondrial and nuclear data

How and when dingoes arrived in Oceania poses a fascinating question for scientists with interest in the historical movements of humans and dogs. The dingo holds a unique position as top terrestrial predator of Australia and exists in a wild state. In the first geographical survey of genetic diversity in the dingo using whole mitochondrial genomes, we analysed 16,428 bp in 25 individuals from five separate populations. We also investigated 13 nuclear loci to compare with the mitochondrial population history patterns. Phylogenetic analyses based upon mitochondrial DNA and nuclear DNA support the hypothesis that there are at least two distinct populations of dingo, one of which occurs in the northwest and the other in the southeast of the continent. Conservative molecular dating based upon mitochondrial DNA suggest that the lineages split approximately 8300 years before present, likely outside Australia but within Oceania. The close relationship between dingoes and New Guinea Singing Dogs suggests that plausibly dingoes spread into Australia via the land bridge between Papua New Guinea and Australia although seafaring introductions cannot be rejected. The geographical distribution of these divergent lineages suggests there were multiple independent dingo immigrations. Importantly, the observation of multiple dingo populations suggests the need for revision of existing conservation and management programs that treat dingoes as a single homogeneous population.

Deep Roots for Aboriginal Australian Y Chromosomes

Australia was one of the earliest regions outside Africa to be colonized by fully modern humans, with archaeological evidence for human presence by 47,000 years ago (47 kya) widely accepted [1, 2]. However, the extent of subsequent human entry before the European colonial age is less clear. The dingo reached Australia about 4 kya, indirectly implying human contact, which some have linked to changes in language and stone tool technology to suggest substantial cultural changes at the same time [3]. Genetic data of two kinds have been proposed to support gene flow from the Indian subcontinent to Australia at this time, as well: first, signs of South Asian admixture in Aboriginal Australian genomes have been reported on the basis of genome-wide SNP data [4]; and second, a Y chromosome lineage designated haplogroup C^∗, present in both India and Australia, was estimated to have a most recent common ancestor around 5 kya and to have entered Australia from India [5]. Here, we sequence 13 Aboriginal Australian Y chromosomes to re-investigate their divergence times from Y chromosomes in other continents, including a comparison of Aboriginal Australian and South Asian haplogroup C chromosomes. We find divergence times dating back to ∼50 kya, thus excluding the Y chromosome as providing evidence for recent gene flow from India into Australia.

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We have sequenced 13 Aboriginal Australian Y chromosomes

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These diverged from Y chromosomes in other continents around 50,000 years ago

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They diverged from Papua New Guinean Y chromosomes soon after this

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We find no evidence for Holocene male gene flow to Australia from South Asia

Philosophy of race meets population genetics

In this paper, I respond to four common semantic and metaphysical objections that philosophers of race have launched at scholars who interpret recent human genetic clustering results in population genetics as evidence for biological racial realism. I call these objections 'the discreteness objection', 'the visibility objection', 'the very important objection', and 'the objectively real objection.' After motivating each objection, I show that each one stems from implausible philosophical assumptions about the relevant meaning of 'race' or the nature of biological racial realism. In order to be constructive, I end by offering some advice for how we can productively critique attempts to defend biological racial realism based on recent human genetic clustering results. I also offer a clarification of the relevant human-population genetic research.

Genome-wide insights into the genetic history of human populations

Although mtDNA and the non-recombining Y chromosome (NRY) studies continue to provide valuable insights into the genetic history of human populations, recent technical, methodological and computational advances and the increasing availability of large-scale, genome-wide data from contemporary human populations around the world promise to reveal new aspects, resolve finer points, and provide a more detailed look at our past demographic history. Genome-wide data are particularly useful for inferring migrations, admixture, and fine structure, as well as for estimating population divergence and admixture times and fluctuations in effective population sizes. In this review, we highlight some of the stories that have emerged from the analyses of genome-wide SNP genotyping data concerning the human history of Southern Africa, India, Oceania, Island South East Asia, Europe and the Americas and comment on possible future study directions. We also discuss advantages and drawbacks of using SNP-arrays, with a particular focus on the ascertainment bias, and ways to circumvent it.

Human settlement history between Sunda and Sahul: a focus on East Timor (Timor-Leste) and the Pleistocenic mtDNA diversity

BACKGROUND

Distinct, partly competing, "waves" have been proposed to explain human migration in(to) today's Island Southeast Asia and Australia based on genetic (and other) evidence. The paucity of high quality and high resolution data has impeded insights so far. In this study, one of the first in a forensic environment, we used the Ion Torrent Personal Genome Machine (PGM) for generating complete mitogenome sequences via stand-alone massively parallel sequencing and describe a standard data validation practice.

RESULTS

In this first representative investigation on the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) variation of East Timor (Timor-Leste) population including >300 individuals, we put special emphasis on the reconstruction of the initial settlement, in particular on the previously poorly resolved haplogroup P1, an indigenous lineage of the Southwest Pacific region. Our results suggest a colonization of southern Sahul (Australia) >37 kya, limited subsequent exchange, and a parallel incubation of initial settlers in northern Sahul (New Guinea) followed by westward migrations <28 kya.

CONCLUSIONS

The temporal proximity and possible coincidence of these latter dispersals, which encompassed autochthonous haplogroups, with the postulated "later" events of (South) East Asian origin pinpoints a highly dynamic migratory phase.

Toward a new history and geography of human genes informed by ancient DNA

Genetic information contains a record of the history of our species, and technological advances have transformed our ability to access this record. Many studies have used genome-wide data from populations today to learn about the peopling of the globe and subsequent adaptation to local conditions. Implicit in this research is the assumption that the geographic locations of people today are informative about the geographic locations of their ancestors in the distant past. However, it is now clear that long-range migration, admixture, and population replacement subsequent to the initial out-of-Africa expansion have altered the genetic structure of most of the world's human populations. In light of this we argue that it is time to critically reevaluate current models of the peopling of the globe, as well as the importance of natural selection in determining the geographic distribution of phenotypes. We specifically highlight the transformative potential of ancient DNA. By accessing the genetic make-up of populations living at archaeologically known times and places, ancient DNA makes it possible to directly track migrations and responses to natural selection.

Recent developments in the genetic history of East Asia and Oceania

Recent developments in our understanding of the genetic history of Asia and Oceania have been driven by technological advances. Specifically, our understanding of the past has been augmented by: genome sequences from ancient hominins and ancient modern humans; more comprehensive studies of existing populations (e.g., complete mtDNA genome sequences and genome-wide data) and the development of new statistics and analytical methods to interpret the abundance of new data. We review some of the new discoveries since we entered the age of archaic and modern genomics and how they have changed our understanding of the settlement and subsequent population dynamics in Asia and the Pacific.

Global patterns of diversity and selection in human tyrosinase gene

Global variation in skin pigmentation is one of the most striking examples of environmental adaptation in humans. More than two hundred loci have been identified as candidate genes in model organisms and a few tens of these have been found to be significantly associated with human skin pigmentation in genome-wide association studies. However, the evolutionary history of different pigmentation genes is rather complex: some loci have been subjected to strong positive selection, while others evolved under the relaxation of functional constraints in low UV environment. Here we report the results of a global study of the human tyrosinase gene, which is one of the key enzymes in melanin production, to assess the role of its variation in the evolution of skin pigmentation differences among human populations. We observe a higher rate of non-synonymous polymorphisms in the European sample consistent with the relaxation of selective constraints. A similar pattern was previously observed in the MC1R gene and concurs with UV radiation-driven model of skin color evolution by which mutations leading to lower melanin levels and decreased photoprotection are subject to purifying selection at low latitudes while being tolerated or even favored at higher latitudes because they facilitate UV-dependent vitamin D production. Our coalescent date estimates suggest that the non-synonymous variants, which are frequent in Europe and North Africa, are recent and have emerged after the separation of East and West Eurasian populations.

Genome-wide data substantiate Holocene gene flow from India to Australia

The Australian continent holds some of the earliest archaeological evidence for the expansion of modern humans out of Africa, with initial occupation at least 40,000 y ago. It is commonly assumed that Australia remained largely isolated following initial colonization, but the genetic history of Australians has not been explored in detail to address this issue. Here, we analyze large-scale genotyping data from aboriginal Australians, New Guineans, island Southeast Asians and Indians. We find an ancient association between Australia, New Guinea, and the Mamanwa (a Negrito group from the Philippines), with divergence times for these groups estimated at 36,000 y ago, and supporting the view that these populations represent the descendants of an early "southern route" migration out of Africa, whereas other populations in the region arrived later by a separate dispersal. We also detect a signal indicative of substantial gene flow between the Indian populations and Australia well before European contact, contrary to the prevailing view that there was no contact between Australia and the rest of the world. We estimate this gene flow to have occurred during the Holocene, 4,230 y ago. This is also approximately when changes in tool technology, food processing, and the dingo appear in the Australian archaeological record, suggesting that these may be related to the migration from India.

Extent of linkage disequilibrium in the domestic cat, Felis silvestris catus, and its breeds

Domestic cats have a unique breeding history and can be used as models for human hereditary and infectious diseases. In the current era of genome-wide association studies, insights regarding linkage disequilibrium (LD) are essential for efficient association studies. The objective of this study is to investigate the extent of LD in the domestic cat, Felis silvestris catus, particularly within its breeds. A custom illumina GoldenGate Assay consisting of 1536 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) equally divided over ten 1 Mb chromosomal regions was developed, and genotyped across 18 globally recognized cat breeds and two distinct random bred populations. The pair-wise LD descriptive measure (r²) was calculated between the SNPs in each region and within each population independently. LD decay was estimated by determining the non-linear least-squares of all pair-wise estimates as a function of distance using established models. The point of 50% decay of r² was used to compare the extent of LD between breeds. The longest extent of LD was observed in the Burmese breed, where the distance at which r² ≈ 0.25 was ∼380 kb, comparable to several horse and dog breeds. The shortest extent of LD was found in the Siberian breed, with an r² ≈ 0.25 at approximately 17 kb, comparable to random bred cats and human populations. A comprehensive haplotype analysis was also conducted. The haplotype structure of each region within each breed mirrored the LD estimates. The LD of cat breeds largely reflects the breeds’ population history and breeding strategies. Understanding LD in diverse populations will contribute to an efficient use of the newly developed SNP array for the cat in the design of genome-wide association studies, as well as to the interpretation of results for the fine mapping of disease and phenotypic traits.

Socially responsible genetic research with descendants of the First Australians

Aboriginal Australians, one of the world’s indigenous peoples now outnumbered through colonization, are the most under-represented in genetic research because they feel that the benefits do not outweigh the social cost of involvement. Descendants of the First Australians have survived a period of European occupation during which time they were dispossessed of land, language and cultural identity resulting in inequities in health, education, and employment opportunities. Compared to Maori and Native American peoples, the ability to form organizations that help to control their affairs is very recent. The desire to control is understandably strong yet the ‘gate-keeping’ role of some organizations risks shifting the control away from smaller communities and has become increasingly politicized. In the past, research practices by Western scientists were poorly presented and have resulted in resistance to proposals that are perceived to have no beneficial outcomes for participants. In this age of advanced technological expertise in genetics, benefits to all humanity are clear to those carrying out research projects, yet not always to those being asked to participate, presenting extra challenges. Excellent guidelines for ethical conduct in research are available to assist researchers, prospective participants, and ethics committees or review boards that approve and monitor procedures. The essence of these guidelines are that research should be carried out with a spirit of integrity, respect, reciprocity, parity, recognition of survival and protection of social and cultural values, a need for control and shared responsibility. Specific Aboriginal organizations, with which researchers need to work to negotiate partnerships, vary within and between Australian states and will always expect Aboriginal personnel to be involved. People experienced in the consultation process are necessary as part of a team. By working patiently through lengthy negotiations with Aboriginal Australians, scientists can achieve valuable results, but failure to do so with respect and understanding will not yield hoped for outcomes. My own experience working with communities in the Darling River region of western New South Wales has been an enriching and rewarding one, with a long period of successful research lately delayed by increased expectation of monitoring and involvement at state level.

Exome sequencing of only seven Qataris identifies potentially deleterious variants in the Qatari population

The Qatari population, located at the Arabian migration crossroads of African and Eurasia, is comprised of Bedouin, Persian and African genetic subgroups. By deep exome sequencing of only 7 Qataris, including individuals in each subgroup, we identified 2,750 nonsynonymous SNPs predicted to be deleterious, many of which are linked to human health, or are in genes linked to human health. Many of these SNPs were at significantly elevated deleterious allele frequency in Qataris compared to other populations worldwide. Despite the small sample size, SNP allele frequency was highly correlated with a larger Qatari sample. Together, the data demonstrate that exome sequencing of only a small number of individuals can reveal genetic variations with potential health consequences in understudied populations.

Human population admixture in Asia

Genetic admixture in human, the result of inter-marriage among people from different well-differentiated populations, has been extensively studied in the New World, where European colonization brought contact between peoples of Europe, Africa, and Asia and the Amerindian populations. In Asia, genetic admixing has been also prevalent among previously separated human populations. However, studies on admixed populations in Asia have been largely underrepresented in similar efforts in the New World. Here, I will provide an overview of population genomic studies that have been published to date on human admixture in Asia, focusing on population structure and population history.

Narrow genetic basis for the Australian dingo confirmed through analysis of paternal ancestry

The dingo (Canis lupus dingo) is an iconic animal in the native culture of Australia, but archaeological and molecular records indicate a relatively recent history on the continent. Studies of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) imply that the current dingo population was founded by a small population of already tamed dogs from Southeast Asia. However, the maternal genetic data might give a unilateral picture, and the gene pool has yet to be screened for paternal ancestry. We sequenced 14,437 bp of the Y-chromosome (Y-chr) from two dingoes and one New Guinea Singing Dog (NGSD). This positioned dingo and NGSD within the domestic dog Y-chr phylogeny, and produced one haplotype not detected before. With this data, we characterized 47 male dingoes in 30 Y-chr single-nucleotide polymorphism sites using protease-mediated allele-specific extension technology. Only two haplotypes, H3 and H60, were found among the dingoes, at frequencies of 68.1 and 31.9 %, respectively, compared to 27 haplotypes previously established in the domestic dog. While H3 is common among Southeast Asian dogs, H60 was specifically found in dingoes and the NGSD, but was related to Southeast Asian dog Y-chr haplotypes. H3 and H60 were observed exclusively in the western and eastern parts of Australia, respectively, but had a common range in Southeast. Thus, the Y-chr diversity was very low, similar to previous observations for d-loop mtDNA. Overall genetic evidence suggests a very restricted introduction of the first dingoes into Australia, possibly from New Guinea. This study further confirms the dingo as an isolated feral dog.

Out-of-Africa, the peopling of continents and islands: tracing uniparental gene trees across the map

Genetic relationships between human groups were first studied by comparisons of relative allele frequency at multiple loci. Geographical study of detailed, highly resolved trees of single, non-recombining uniparental loci (mitochondrial DNA: mtDNA and Y chromosome/non-recombining Y: NRY), following specific lineages rather than populations, then revolutionized knowledge of the peopling of the world, although, curiously, the use of geographically highly specific mutations that protect against malaria, found on individual autosomal globin genes, were first in single-locus phylogeography. mtDNA, with its high single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) mutation rates and relative ease of dating, led the way and gave stronger proof of the recent near replacement of all human species by anatomically modern humans (AMH). AMH left Africa via a single southern exit about 70 000 years ago and rapidly spread around the Indian Ocean towards the Antipodes, long before a small branch left a South Asian colony, earlier on the trail, to populate Europe. The worldwide skeleton phylogeny of mtDNA is fully resolved, but a regional analysis will continue to illuminate subsequent migrations. NRY with a lower SNP mutation rate still has a dating problem relating to use the of single tandem repeats (STRs), but has validated mtDNA results and with more geographical specificity and genomic size, as with the autosomal human genome, has much more detail to offer for the future.

Ancestral components of admixed genomes in a Mexican cohort

For most of the world, human genome structure at a population level is shaped by interplay between ancient geographic isolation and more recent demographic shifts, factors that are captured by the concepts of biogeographic ancestry and admixture, respectively. The ancestry of non-admixed individuals can often be traced to a specific population in a precise region, but current approaches for studying admixed individuals generally yield coarse information in which genome ancestry proportions are identified according to continent of origin. Here we introduce a new analytic strategy for this problem that allows fine-grained characterization of admixed individuals with respect to both geographic and genomic coordinates. Ancestry segments from different continents, identified with a probabilistic model, are used to construct and study “virtual genomes” of admixed individuals. We apply this approach to a cohort of 492 parent–offspring trios from Mexico City. The relative contributions from the three continental-level ancestral populations—Africa, Europe, and America—vary substantially between individuals, and the distribution of haplotype block length suggests an admixing time of 10–15 generations. The European and Indigenous American virtual genomes of each Mexican individual can be traced to precise regions within each continent, and they reveal a gradient of Amerindian ancestry between indigenous people of southwestern Mexico and Mayans of the Yucatan Peninsula. This contrasts sharply with the African roots of African Americans, which have been characterized by a uniform mixing of multiple West African populations. We also use the virtual European and Indigenous American genomes to search for the signatures of selection in the ancestral populations, and we identify previously known targets of selection in other populations, as well as new candidate loci. The ability to infer precise ancestral components of admixed genomes will facilitate studies of disease-related phenotypes and will allow new insight into the adaptive and demographic history of indigenous people.

Admixed individuals, such as African Americans and Latinos, arise from mating between individuals from different continents. Detailed knowledge about the ancestral origin of an admixed population not only provides insight regarding the history of the population itself, but also affords opportunities to study the evolutionary biology of the ancestral populations. Applying novel statistical methods, we analyzed the high-density genotype data of nearly 1,500 Mexican individuals from Mexico City, who are admixed among Indigenous Americans, Europeans, and Africans. The relative contributions from the three continental-level ancestral populations vary substantially between individuals. The European ancestors of these Mexican individuals genetically resemble Southern Europeans, such as the Spaniard and the Portuguese. The Indigenous American ancestry of the Mexicans in our study is largely attributed to the indigenous groups residing in the southwestern region of Mexico, although some individuals have inherited varying degrees of ancestry from the Mayans of the Yucatan Peninsula and other indigenous American populations. A search for signatures of selection, focusing on the parts of the genomes derived from an ancestral population (e.g. Indigenous American), identifies regions in which a genetic variant may have been favored by natural selection in that ancestral population.

Perspectives on human population structure at the cusp of the sequencing era

Human groups show structured levels of genetic similarity as a consequence of factors such as geographical subdivision and genetic drift. Surveying this structure gives us a scientific perspective on human origins, sheds light on evolutionary processes that shape both human adaptation and disease, and is integral to effectively carrying out the mission of global medical genetics and personalized medicine. Surveys of population structure have been ongoing for decades, but in the past three years, single-nucleotide-polymorphism (SNP) array technology has provided unprecedented detail on human population structure at global and regional scales. These studies have confirmed well-known relationships between distantly related populations and uncovered previously unresolvable relationships among closely related human groups. SNPs represent the first dense genome-wide markers, and as such, their analysis has raised many challenges and insights relevant to the study of population genetics with whole-genome sequences. Here we draw on the lessons from these studies to anticipate the directions that will be most fruitful to pursue during the emerging whole-genome sequencing era.

Denisova admixture and the first modern human dispersals into Southeast Asia and Oceania

It has recently been shown that ancestors of New Guineans and Bougainville Islanders have inherited a proportion of their ancestry from Denisovans, an archaic hominin group from Siberia. However, only a sparse sampling of populations from Southeast Asia and Oceania were analyzed. Here, we quantify Denisova admixture in 33 additional populations from Asia and Oceania. Aboriginal Australians, Near Oceanians, Polynesians, Fijians, east Indonesians, and Mamanwa (a "Negrito" group from the Philippines) have all inherited genetic material from Denisovans, but mainland East Asians, western Indonesians, Jehai (a Negrito group from Malaysia), and Onge (a Negrito group from the Andaman Islands) have not. These results indicate that Denisova gene flow occurred into the common ancestors of New Guineans, Australians, and Mamanwa but not into the ancestors of the Jehai and Onge and suggest that relatives of present-day East Asians were not in Southeast Asia when the Denisova gene flow occurred. Our finding that descendants of the earliest inhabitants of Southeast Asia do not all harbor Denisova admixture is inconsistent with a history in which the Denisova interbreeding occurred in mainland Asia and then spread over Southeast Asia, leading to all its earliest modern human inhabitants. Instead, the data can be most parsimoniously explained if the Denisova gene flow occurred in Southeast Asia itself. Thus, archaic Denisovans must have lived over an extraordinarily broad geographic and ecological range, from Siberia to tropical Asia.

MtDNA SNP multiplexes for efficient inference of matrilineal genetic ancestry within Oceania

Human mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) is a convenient marker for tracing matrilineal bio-geographic ancestry and is widely applied in forensic, genealogical and anthropological studies. In forensic applications, DNA-based ancestry inference can be useful for finding unknown suspects by concentrating police investigations in cases where autosomal STR profiling was unable to provide a match, or can help provide clues in missing person identification. Although multiplexed mtDNA single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) assays to infer matrilineal ancestry at a (near) continental level are already available, such tools are lacking for the Oceania region. Here, we have developed a hierarchical system of three SNaPshot multiplexes for genotyping 26 SNPs defining all major mtDNA haplogroups for Oceania (including Australia, Near Oceania and Remote Oceania). With this system, it was possible to conclusively assign 74% of Oceanian individuals to their Oceanian matrilineal ancestry in an established literature database (after correcting for obvious external admixture). Furthermore, in a set of 161 genotyped individuals collected in Australia, Papua New Guinea and Fiji, 87.6% were conclusively assigned an Oceanian matrilineal origin. For the remaining 12.4% of the genotyped samples either a Eurasian origin was detected indicating likely European admixture (1.9%), the identified haplogroups are shared between Oceania and S/SE-Asia (5%), or the SNPs applied did not allow a geographic inference to be assigned (5.6%). Sub-regional assignment within Oceania was possible for 32.9% of the individuals genotyped: 49.5% of Australians were assigned an Australian origin and 13.7% of the Papua New Guineans were assigned a Near Oceanian origin, although none of the Fijians could be assigned a specific Remote Oceanian origin. The low assignment rates of Near and Remote Oceania are explained by recent migrations from Asia via Near Oceania into Remote Oceania. Combining the mtDNA multiplexes for Oceania introduced here with those we developed earlier for all other continental regions, global matrilineal bio-geographic ancestry assignment from DNA is now achievable in a highly efficient way that is also suitable for applications with limited material such as forensic case work.

Mitochondrial DNA data indicate an introduction through Mainland Southeast Asia for Australian dingoes and Polynesian domestic dogs

In the late stages of the global dispersal of dogs, dingoes appear in the Australian archaeological record 3500 years BP, and dogs were one of three domesticates brought with the colonization of Polynesia, but the introduction routes to this region remain unknown. This also relates to questions about human history, such as to what extent the Polynesian culture was introduced with the Austronesian expansion from Taiwan or adopted en route, and whether pre-Neolithic Australia was culturally influenced by the surrounding Neolithic world. We investigate these questions by mapping the distribution of the mtDNA founder haplotypes for dingoes (A29) and ancient Polynesian dogs (Arc1 and Arc2) in samples across Southern East Asia (n = 424) and Island Southeast Asia (n = 219). All three haplotypes were found in South China, Mainland Southeast Asia and Indonesia but absent in Taiwan and the Philippines, and the mtDNA diversity among dingoes indicates an introduction to Australia 4600–18 300 years BP. These results suggest that Australian dingoes and Polynesian dogs originate from dogs introduced to Indonesia via Mainland Southeast Asia before the Neolithic, and not from Taiwan together with the Austronesian expansion. This underscores the complex origins of Polynesian culture and the isolation from Neolithic influence of the pre-Neolithic Australian culture.