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Li YC, Ye WJ, Jiang CG, Zeng Z, Tian JY, Yang LQ, Liu KJ, Kong QP. River Valleys Shaped the Maternal Genetic Landscape of Han Chinese. Mol Biol Evol 2020; 36:1643-1652. [PMID: 31112995 DOI: 10.1093/molbev/msz072] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/16/2023] Open
Abstract
A general south-north genetic divergence has been observed among Han Chinese in previous studies. However, these studies, especially those on mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), are based either on partial mtDNA sequences or on limited samples. Given that Han Chinese comprise the world's largest population and reside around the whole China, whether the north-south divergence can be observed after all regional populations are considered remains unknown. Moreover, factors involved in shaping the genetic landscape of Han Chinese need further investigation. In this study, we dissected the matrilineal landscape of Han Chinese by studying 4,004 mtDNA haplogroup-defining variants in 21,668 Han samples from virtually all provinces in China. Our results confirmed the genetic divergence between southern and northern Han populations. However, we found a significant genetic divergence among populations from the three main river systems, that is, the Yangtze, the Yellow, and the Zhujiang (Pearl) rivers, which largely attributed to the prevalent distribution of haplogroups D4, B4, and M7 in these river valleys. Further analyses based on 4,986 mitogenomes, including 218 newly generated sequences, indicated that this divergence was already established during the early Holocene and may have resulted from population expansion facilitated by ancient agricultures along these rivers. These results imply that the maternal gene pools of the contemporary Han populations have retained the genetic imprint of early Neolithic farmers from different river basins, or that river valleys represented relative migration barriers that facilitated genetic differentiation, thus highlighting the importance of the three ancient agricultures in shaping the genetic landscape of the Han Chinese.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yu-Chun Li
- State Key Laboratory of Genetic Resources and Evolution/Key Laboratory of Healthy Aging Research of Yunnan Province, Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, China.,CAS Center for Excellence in Animal Evolution and Genetics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, China.,Kunming Key Laboratory of Healthy Aging Study, Kunming, China
| | - Wei-Jian Ye
- Chengdu 23 Mofang Biotechnology Co., Ltd, Chengdu, China
| | | | - Zhen Zeng
- Chengdu 23 Mofang Biotechnology Co., Ltd, Chengdu, China
| | - Jiao-Yang Tian
- State Key Laboratory of Genetic Resources and Evolution/Key Laboratory of Healthy Aging Research of Yunnan Province, Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, China.,CAS Center for Excellence in Animal Evolution and Genetics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, China.,Kunming Key Laboratory of Healthy Aging Study, Kunming, China
| | - Li-Qin Yang
- State Key Laboratory of Genetic Resources and Evolution/Key Laboratory of Healthy Aging Research of Yunnan Province, Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, China.,CAS Center for Excellence in Animal Evolution and Genetics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, China.,Kunming Key Laboratory of Healthy Aging Study, Kunming, China
| | - Kai-Jun Liu
- Chengdu 23 Mofang Biotechnology Co., Ltd, Chengdu, China
| | - Qing-Peng Kong
- State Key Laboratory of Genetic Resources and Evolution/Key Laboratory of Healthy Aging Research of Yunnan Province, Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, China.,CAS Center for Excellence in Animal Evolution and Genetics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, China.,Kunming Key Laboratory of Healthy Aging Study, Kunming, China.,KIZ-SU Joint Laboratory of Animal Model and Drug Development, College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Soochow University, Suzhou, China.,KIZ/CUHK Joint Laboratory of Bioresources and Molecular Research in Common Diseases, Kunming, China
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