The Y-chromosome haplogroup C3*-F3918, likely attributed to the Mongol Empire, can be traced to a 2500-year-old nomadic group

Evolutionary profiles and complex admixture landscape in East Asia: New insights from modern and ancient Y chromosome variation perspectives

Human Y-chromosomes are characterized by nonrecombination and uniparental inheritance, carrying traces of human history evolution and admixture. Large-scale population-specific genomic sources based on advanced sequencing technologies have revolutionized our understanding of human Y chromosome diversity and its anthropological and forensic applications. Here, we reviewed and meta-analyzed the Y chromosome genetic diversity of modern and ancient people from China and summarized the patterns of founding lineages of spatiotemporally different populations associated with their origin, expansion, and admixture. We emphasized the strong association between our identified founding lineages and language-related human dispersal events correlated with the Sino-Tibetan, Altaic, and southern Chinese multiple-language families related to the Hmong-Mien, Tai-Kadai, Austronesian, and Austro-Asiatic languages. We subsequently summarize the recent advances in translational applications in forensic and anthropological science, including paternal biogeographical ancestry inference (PBGAI), surname investigation, and paternal history reconstruction. Whole-Y sequencing or high-resolution panels with high coverage of terminal Y chromosome lineages are essential for capturing the genomic diversity of ethnolinguistically diverse East Asians. Generally, we emphasized the importance of including more ethnolinguistically diverse, underrepresented modern and spatiotemporally different ancient East Asians in human genetic research for a comprehensive understanding of the paternal genetic landscape of East Asians with a detailed time series and for the reconstruction of a reference database in the PBGAI, even including new technology innovations of Telomere-to-Telomere (T2T) for new genetic variation discovery.

Ancient Components and Recent Expansion in the Eurasian Heartland: Insights into the Revised Phylogeny of Y-Chromosomes from Central Asia

In the past two decades, studies of Y chromosomal single nucleotide polymorphisms (Y-SNPs) and short tandem repeats (Y-STRs) have shed light on the demographic history of Central Asia, the heartland of Eurasia. However, complex patterns of migration and admixture have complicated population genetic studies in Central Asia. Here, we sequenced and analyzed the Y-chromosomes of 187 male individuals from Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Uzbek, Karakalpak, Hazara, Karluk, Tajik, Uyghur, Dungan, and Turkmen populations. High diversity and admixture from peripheral areas of Eurasia were observed among the paternal gene pool of these populations. This general pattern can be largely attributed to the activities of ancient people in four periods, including the Neolithic farmers, Indo-Europeans, Turks, and Mongols. Most importantly, we detected the consistent expansion of many minor lineages over the past thousand years, which may correspond directly to the formation of modern populations in these regions. The newly discovered sub-lineages and variants provide a basis for further studies of the contributions of minor lineages to the formation of modern populations in Central Asia.

Ancient DNA from Tubo Kingdom-related tombs in northeastern Tibetan Plateau revealed their genetic affinity to both Tibeto-Burman and Altaic populations

The rise of the Tubo Kingdom is considered as the key period for the formation of modern groups on the Tibetan Plateau. The ethnic origin of the residents of the Tubo Kingdom is quite complex, and their genetic structure remains unclear. The tombs of the Tubo Kingdom period in Dulan County, Qinghai Province, dating back to the seventh century, are considered to be the remains left by Tubo conquerors or the Tuyuhun people dominated by the Tubo Kingdom. The human remains of these tombs are ideal materials for studying the population dynamics in the Tubo Kingdom. In this paper, we analyzed the genome-wide data of eight remains from these tombs by shotgun sequencing and multiplex PCR panels and compared the results with data of available ancient and modern populations across East Asia. Genetic continuity between ancient Dulan people with ancient Xianbei tribes in Northeast Asia, ancient settlers on the Tibetan Plateau, and modern Tibeto-Burman populations was found. Surprisingly, one out of eight individuals showed typical genetic features of populations from Central Asia. In summary, the genetic diversity of ancient Dulan people and their affiliations with other populations provide an example of the complex origin of the residents in the Tubo Kingdom and their long-distance connection with populations in a vast geographic region across ancient Asia.

Genetic insights into the paternal admixture history of Chinese Mongolians via high-resolution customized Y-SNP SNaPshot panels

The Mongolian people, one of the Mongolic-speaking populations, are native to the Mongolian Plateau in North China and southern Siberia. Many ancient DNA studies recently reported extensive population transformations during the Paleolithic to historic periods in this region, while little is known about the paternal genetic legacy of modern geographically different Mongolians. Here, we genotyped 215 Y-chromosomal single nucleotide polymorphisms (Y-SNPs) and 37 Y-chromosomal short tandem repeats (Y-STRs) among 679 Mongolian individuals from Hohhot, Hulunbuir, and Ordos in North China using the AGCU Y37 kit and our developed eight Y-SNP SNaPshot panels (including two panels first reported herein). The C-M130 Y-SNP SNaPshot panel defines 28 subhaplogroups, and the N/O/Q complementary Y-SNP SNaPshot panel defines 30 subhaplogroups of N1b-F2930, N1a1a1a1a3-B197, Q-M242, and O2a2b1a1a1a4a-CTS4658, which improved the resolution our developed Y-SNP SNaPshot panel set and could be applied for dissecting the finer-scale paternal lineages of Mongolic speakers. We found a strong association between Mongolian-prevailing haplogroups and some observed microvariants among the newly generated Y-STR haplotype data, suggesting the possibility of haplogroup prediction based on the distribution of Y-STR haplotypes. We identified three main ancestral sources of the observed Mongolian-dominant haplogroups, including the local lineage of C2*-M217 and incoming lineages from other regions of southern East Asia (O2*-M122, O1b*-P31, and N1*-CTS3750) and western Eurasia (R1*-M173). We also observed DE-M145, D1*-M174, C1*-F3393, G*-M201, I-M170, J*-M304, L-M20, O1a*-M119, and Q*-M242 at relatively low frequencies (< 5.00%), suggesting a complex admixture history between Mongolians and other incoming Eurasians from surrounding regions. Genetic clustering analyses indicated that the studied Mongolians showed close genetic affinities with other Altaic-speaking populations and Sinitic-speaking Hui people. The Y-SNP haplotype/haplogroup-based genetic legacy not only revealed that the stratification among geographically/linguistically/ethnically different Chinese populations was highly consistent with the geographical division and language classification, but also demonstrated that patrilineal genetic materials could provide fine-scale genetic structures among geographically different Mongolian people, suggesting that our developed high-resolution Y-SNP SNaPshot panels have the potential for forensic pedigree searches and biogeographical ancestry inference.

Genomic Insights Into the Admixture History of Mongolic- and Tungusic-Speaking Populations From Southwestern East Asia

As a major part of the modern Trans-Eurasian or Altaic language family, most of the Mongolic and Tungusic languages were mainly spoken in northern China, Mongolia, and southern Siberia, but some were also found in southern China. Previous genetic surveys only focused on the dissection of genetic structure of northern Altaic-speaking populations; however, the ancestral origin and genomic diversification of Mongolic and Tungusic-speaking populations from southwestern East Asia remain poorly understood because of the paucity of high-density sampling and genome-wide data. Here, we generated genome-wide data at nearly 700,000 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in 26 Mongolians and 55 Manchus collected from Guizhou province in southwestern China. We applied principal component analysis (PCA), ADMIXTURE, f statistics, qpWave/qpAdm analysis, qpGraph, TreeMix, Fst, and ALDER to infer the fine-scale population genetic structure and admixture history. We found significant genetic differentiation between northern and southern Mongolic and Tungusic speakers, as one specific genetic cline of Manchu and Mongolian was identified in Guizhou province. Further results from ADMIXTURE and f statistics showed that the studied Guizhou Mongolians and Manchus had a strong genetic affinity with southern East Asians, especially for inland southern East Asians. The qpAdm-based estimates of ancestry admixture proportion demonstrated that Guizhou Mongolians and Manchus people could be modeled as the admixtures of one northern ancestry related to northern Tungusic/Mongolic speakers or Yellow River farmers and one southern ancestry associated with Austronesian, Tai-Kadai, and Austroasiatic speakers. The qpGraph-based phylogeny and neighbor-joining tree further confirmed that Guizhou Manchus and Mongolians derived approximately half of the ancestry from their northern ancestors and the other half from southern Indigenous East Asians. The estimated admixture time ranged from 600 to 1,000 years ago, which further confirmed the admixture events were mediated via the Mongolians Empire expansion during the formation of the Yuan dynasty.

Origin of ethnic groups, linguistic families, and civilizations in China viewed from the Y chromosome

East Asia, geographically extending to the Pamir Plateau in the west, to the Himalayan Mountains in the southwest, to Lake Baikal in the north and to the South China Sea in the south, harbors a variety of people, cultures, and languages. To reconstruct the natural history of East Asians is a mission of multiple disciplines, including genetics, archaeology, linguistics, and ethnology. Geneticists confirm the recent African origin of modern East Asians. Anatomically modern humans arose in Africa and immigrated into East Asia via a southern route approximately 50,000 years ago. Following the end of the Last Glacial Maximum approximately 12,000 years ago, rice and millet were domesticated in the south and north of East Asia, respectively, which allowed human populations to expand and linguistic families and ethnic groups to develop. These Neolithic populations produced a strong relation between the present genetic structures and linguistic families. The expansion of the Hongshan people from northeastern China relocated most of the ethnic populations on a large scale approximately 5300 years ago. Most of the ethnic groups migrated to remote regions, producing genetic structure differences between the edge and center of East Asia. In central China, pronounced population admixture occurred and accelerated over time, which subsequently formed the Han Chinese population and eventually the Chinese civilization. Population migration between the north and the south throughout history has left a smooth gradient in north-south changes in genetic structure. Observation of the process of shaping the genetic structure of East Asians may help in understanding the global natural history of modern humans.

Molecular genetic survey and forensic characterization of Chinese Mongolians via the 47 autosomal insertion/deletion marker

The Mongolians are mainly distributed in the modern state of Mongolia, China, Russia, and other countries. While the historic and archaeological records of the rise and fall of the Mongol Empire are well documented, little has been known about the genetic legacy of modern Mongolian populations. Here, 611 Mongolian individuals from Hohhot, Hulunbuir, and Ordos of China were genotyped via the 47 Insertion/Deletion markers. Forensically statistical parameters indicated that this InDel system could be applied to forensic investigation in Mongolian populations. The comprehensive population comparisons indicated that targeted Mongolian populations are a homogeneous population, which kept close genetic proximity with geographically northern East Asians. The findings of the model-based clustering analysis revealed a southern East Asian-specific ancestral component, which was maximized in Hainan Li, and Mongolian populations harbored relatively less Hainan Li-related ancestry and more northern East Asian-related ancestry compared with reference Tai-Kadai, Austroasiatic and Sinitic people.

Post-last glacial maximum expansion of Y-chromosome haplogroup C2a-L1373 in northern Asia and its implications for the origin of Native Americans

OBJECTIVES

Subbranches of Y-chromosome haplogroup C2a-L1373 are founding paternal lineages in northern Asia and Native American populations. Our objective was to investigate C2a-L1373 differentiation in northern Asia and its implications for Native American origins.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Sequences of rare subbranches (n = 43) and ancient individuals (n = 37) of C2a-L1373 (including P39 and MPB373), were used to construct phylogenetic trees with age estimation by BEAST software.

RESULTS

C2a-L1373 expanded rapidly approximately 17.7,000-14.3,000 years ago (kya) after the last glacial maximum (LGM), generating numerous sublineages which became founding paternal lineages of modern northern Asian and Native American populations (C2a-P39 and C2a-MPB373). The divergence pattern supports possible initiation of differentiation in low latitude regions of northern Asia and northward diffusion after the LGM. There is a substantial gap between the divergence times of C2a-MPB373 (approximately 22.4 or 17.7 kya) and C2a-P39 (approximately 14.3 kya), indicating two possible migration waves.

DISCUSSION

We discussed the decreasing time interval of "Beringian standstill" (2.5 ky or smaller) and its reduced significance. We also discussed the multiple possibilities for the peopling of the Americas: the "Long-term Beringian standstill model," the "Short-term Beringian standstill model," and the "Multiple waves of migration model." Our results support the argument from ancient DNA analyses that the direct ancestor group of Native Americans is an admixture of "Ancient Northern Siberians" and Paleolithic communities from the Amur region, which appeared during the post-LGM era, rather than ancient populations in greater Beringia, or an adjacent region, before the LGM.

Phylogenetic analysis of the Y-chromosome haplogroup C2b-F1067, a dominant paternal lineage in Eastern Eurasia

Human Y-chromosome haplogroup C2b-F1067 is one of the dominant paternal lineages of populations in Eastern Eurasia. In order to explore the origin, diversification, and expansion of this haplogroup, we generated 206 new Y-chromosome sequences from C2b-F1067 males and coanalyzed 220 Y-chromosome sequences of this haplogroup. BEAST software was used to reconstruct a revised phylogenetic tree of haplogroup C2b-F1067 with age estimates. The revised phylogeny of C2b-F1067 included 155 sublineages, 1986 non-private variants, and >6000 private variants. The age estimation suggested that the initial splitting of C2b-F1067 happened at about 32.8 thousand years ago (kya) and the major sublineages of this haplgroup experienced continuous expansion in the most recent 10,000 years. We identified numerous sublineages that were nearly specific for Korean, Mongolian, Chinese, and other ethnic minorities in China. In particular, we evaluated the candidate-specific lineage for the Dayan Khan family and the Confucius family, the descendants of the ruling family of the Chinese Shang dynasty. These findings suggest that ancient populations with varied C2b-F1067 sublineages played an important role during the formation of most modern populations in Eastern Eurasia, and thus eventually became the founding paternal lineages of these populations.

Ancient DNA reveals two paternal lineages C2a1a1b1a/F3830 and C2b1b/F845 in past nomadic peoples distributed on the Mongolian Plateau

OBJECTIVES

Since the third century CE, a series of nomadic tribes have been active on the eastern part of the Mongolian Plateau. Characterizing the genetic compositions of past nomadic people is significant for research on the nomadic cultures of the Eurasian Steppe region. Ancient DNA analysis facilitates a deeper understanding of the relationship between historical and modern nomadic populations.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Whole-genome shotgun sequencing and capture sequencing of the nonrecombining region of the Y chromosome were performed for six ancient Hg C2/M217 individuals. The individuals were interred at six separate sites on the Mongolian Plateau and represent dates spanning the late Neolithic to Yuan Dynasty (~3,500-700 BP).

RESULTS

After NRY capture sequencing, three of the six ancient samples were attributed to C2b1b/F845 and the other three ancient samples belonged to C2a1a1b1a/F3830. Analysis of whole-genome shotgun sequencing data shows that the ancient C2b1b/F845 individuals are closely related to She, Han and other East Asian populations, while the ancient C2a1a1b1a/F3830 individuals are more similar to modern Northeast Asian peoples, such as the Ulchi and Yakut.

DISCUSSION

Hg C2/M217, widely distributed in the eastern part of the Eurasian continent, was discovered in the ancient Central Steppe and Baikal region. This study shows that there were two important subclades of Hg C2/M217 among the ancient nomadic peoples: C2a1a1b1a/F3830, which has made important genetic contributions to modern Mongolic- and Manchu-speaking populations, and C2b1b/F845, which probably originated in the farming populations of southern East Asia and made certain genetic contributions to past nomadic peoples on the Mongolian Plateau.

Y-chromosomal analysis of clan structure of Kalmyks, the only European Mongol people, and their relationship to Oirat-Mongols of Inner Asia

Kalmyks, the only Mongolic-speaking population in Europe, live in the southeast of the European Plain, in Russia. They adhere to Buddhism and speak a dialect of the Mongolian language. Historical and linguistic evidence, as well a shared clan names, suggests a common origin with Oirats of western Mongolia; yet, only a limited number of genetic studies have focused on this topic. Here we compare the paternal genetic relationship of Kalmyk clans with ethnographically related groups from Mongolia, Kyrgyzstan and China, within the context of their neighbouring populations. A phylogeny of 37 high-coverage Y-chromosome sequences, together with further genotyping of larger sample sets, reveals that all the Oirat-speaking populations studied here, including Kalmyks, share, as a dominant paternal lineage, Y-chromosomal haplogroup C3c1-M77, which is also present in several geographically distant native Siberian populations. We identify a subset of this clade, C3c1b-F6379, specifically enriched in Kalmyks as well as in Oirat-speaking clans in Inner Asia. This sub-clade coalesces at around 1500 years before present, before the Genghis Khan era, and significantly earlier than the split between Kalmyks and other Oirat speakers about 400 years ago. We also show that split between the dominant hg C variant among Buryats—C3-M407—and that of C3-F6379, took place in the Early Upper Palaeolithic, suggesting an extremely long duration for the dissipation of hg C3-M217 carriers across northern Eurasia, which cuts through today’s major linguistic phyla.

The genome of an ancient Rouran individual reveals an important paternal lineage in the Donghu population

OBJECTIVES

Following the Xiongnu and Xianbei, the Rouran Khaganate (Rouran) was the third great nomadic tribe on the Mongolian Steppe. However, few human remains from this tribe are available for archaeologists and geneticists to study, as traces of the tombs of these nomadic people have rarely been found. In 2014, the IA-M1 remains (TL1) at the Khermen Tal site from the Rouran period were found by a Sino-Mongolian joint archaeological team in Mongolia, providing precious material for research into the genetic imprint of the Rouran.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The mtDNA hypervariable sequence I (HVS-I) and Y-chromosome SNPs were analyzed, and capture of the paternal non-recombining region of the Y chromosome (NRY) and whole-genome shotgun sequencing of TL1 were performed. The materials from three sites representing the three ancient nationalities (Donghu, Xianbei, and Shiwei) were selected for comparison with the TL1 individual.

RESULTS

The mitochondrial haplotype of the TL1 individual was D4b1a2a1. The Y-chromosome haplotype was C2b1a1b/F3830 (ISOGG 2015), which was the same as that of the other two ancient male nomadic samples (ZHS5 and GG3) related to the Xianbei and Shiwei, which were also detected as F3889; this haplotype was reported to be downstream of F3830 by Wei et al. ().

DISCUSSION

We conclude that F3889 downstream of F3830 is an important paternal lineage of the ancient Donghu nomads. The Donghu-Xianbei branch is expected to have made an important paternal genetic contribution to Rouran. This component of gene flow ultimately entered the gene pool of modern Mongolic- and Manchu-speaking populations.