Y chromosome haplotypes reveal prehistorical migrations to the Himalayas (original) (raw)

Abstract

By using 19 Y chromosome biallelic markers and 3 Y chromosome microsatellite markers, we analyzed the genetic structure of 31 indigenous Sino-Tibetan speaking populations (607 individuals) currently residing in East, Southeast, and South Asia. Our results showed that a T to C mutation at locus M122 is highly prevalent in almost all of the Sino-Tibetan populations, implying a strong genetic affinity among populations in the same language family. Furthermore, the extremely high frequency of H8, a haplotype derived from M122C, in the Sino-Tibetan speaking populations in the Himalayas including Tibet and northeast India indicated a strong bottleneck effect that occurred during a westward and then southward migration of the founding population of Tibeto-Burmans. We, therefore, postulate that the ancient people, who lived in the upper-middle Yellow River basin about 10,000 years ago and developed one of the earliest Neolithic cultures in East Asia, were the ancestors of modern Sino-Tibetan populations.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

• Get 10 units per month
• Download Article/Chapter or eBook
• 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
• Cancel anytime Subscribe now

Buy Now

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

• Bianchi NO, Catanesi CI, Bailliet G, Martinez-Marignac VL, Bravi CM, Vidal-Rioja LB, Herrera RJ, et al (1998) Characterization of ancestral and derived Y-chromosomal haplotypes of New World native populations. Am J Hum Genet 63: 1862–1871
  Article PubMed CAS Google Scholar
• Cavalli-Sforza LL, Piazza MP (1994) The history and geography of human genes. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ
  Google Scholar
• Chu JY, Huang W, Kuang SQ, Wang JM, Xu JJ, Chu ZT, Yang ZQ, et al (1998) Genetic relationship of populations in China. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 95: 11763–11768
  Article PubMed CAS Google Scholar
• Du RF, Xiao CJ (1997) Genetic distance between Chinese populations calculated on gene frequencies of 38 loci. Science in China (Series C) 40:613–621
  Article CAS Google Scholar
• Etler DA (1996) The fossil evidence for human evolution in Asia. Annu Rev Anthropol 25: 275–301
  Article Google Scholar
• Grimes BF (ed) (1999) The ethnologue: languages of the world. Summer Institute of Linguistics, http://www.sil.org/ethnologue/
• Hammer MF, Spurdle AB, Karafet T, Bonner MR, Wood ET, Novelletto A, Malaspina P, et al (1997) The geographic distribution of human Y chromosome variation. Genetics 145: 787–805
  PubMed CAS Google Scholar
• Heyer E, Puymirat J, Dieltjes P, Bakker E, Knijff P (1997) Estimating Y chromosome specific microsatellite mutation frequencies using deep rooting pedigrees. Hum Mol Genet 6: 799–803
  Article PubMed CAS Google Scholar
• Jobling MA, Tyler-Smith C (1995) Fathers and sons: the Y chromosome and human evolution. Trends Genet 11: 449–455
  Article PubMed CAS Google Scholar
• Karafet TM, Zegura SL, Posukh O, Osipova L, Bergen A, Long J, Goldman D, et al (1999) Ancestral Asian sources(s) of new world Y-chromosome founder haplotypes. Am J Hum Genet 64: 817–831
  Article PubMed CAS Google Scholar
• Kayser M, Caglia A, Corach D, Fretwell N, Gehrig C, Graziosi G, Heidorn F, et al (1997) Evaluation of Y-chromosomal STRs: a multicenter study. Int J Legal Med 110: 125–133
  Article PubMed CAS Google Scholar
• Kolman CJ, Sambuughin N, Bermingham E (1996) Mitochondrial DNA analysis of Mongolian populations and implications for the origin of New World founders. Genetics 142: 1321–1334
  PubMed CAS Google Scholar
• Lell JT, Brown MD, Schurr TG, Sukernik RI, Starikovskaya YB, Torroni A, Moore LG, et al (1997) Y chromosome polymorphisms in native American and Siberian populations: identification of native American Y chromosome haplotypes. Hum Genet 100: 536–543
  Article PubMed CAS Google Scholar
• Martisoff JA (1991) Sino-Tibetan linguistics: present state and future prospects. Annu Rev Anthropol 20: 469–504
  Article Google Scholar
• Qian YP, Qian BZ, Su B, Yu JK, Ke YH, Chu ZT, Shi L, et al (2000) Multiple origins of Tibetan Y chromosomes. Hum Genet 106: 453–454
  Article PubMed CAS Google Scholar
• Su B, Xiao JH, Underhill P, Deka R, Zhang WL, Akey J, Huang W, et al (1999) Y Chromosome evidence for a northward migration of modern humans in East Asia during the last ice age. Am J Hum Genet 65: 1718–1724
  Article PubMed CAS Google Scholar
• Su B, Jin L, Underhill P, Martinson J, Saha N, McGarvey ST, Shriver MD, et al (2000) Polynesian origins: insights from the Y chromosome. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 97: 8225–8228
  Article PubMed CAS Google Scholar
• Underhill PA, Jin L, Zemans R, Oefner PA, Cavalli-Sforza LL (1996) A pre-Columbian human Y chromosome-specific transition and its implications for human evolution. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 93: 196–200
  Article PubMed CAS Google Scholar
• Underhill PA, Jin L, Lin AA, Mehdi SQ, Jenkins T, Vollrath D, Davis RW, et al (1997) Detection of numerous Y chromosome biallelic polymorphisms by denaturing high-performance liquid chromatography. Genome Res 7: 996–1005
  PubMed CAS Google Scholar
• Underhill PA, Shen P, Lin AA, Jin L, Passarino G, Yang WH, Kauffman E, et al (2000) Y chromosome sequence variation and the history of human populations. Nat Genet 26: 358–361
  Article PubMed CAS Google Scholar
• Vollrath D, Foote S, Hilton A, Brown LG, Beer-Romero P, Bogan JS, Page DC (1992) The human Y chromosome: a 43-interval map based on naturally occurring deletions. Science 258: 52–59
  Article PubMed CAS Google Scholar
• Wang WSY (1995) The ancestry of Chinese: retrospect and prospect. J Chinese Linguistics, monograph no. 8
• Wang WSY (1996) Genes, dates, and the writing system. Intl Rev Chinese Linguistics 1: 45–46
  Google Scholar
• Wang WSY (1998) In the Bronze Age and Early Iron Age peoples of Eastern Central Asia. University of Pennsylvania Museum Publications, pp 508–534
• Wang ZH (1994) History of nationalities in China. China Social Science Press
• Weng Z, Yuan Y, Du R (1989) Analysis of the genetic structure of human populations in China. Acta Anthropol Sin 8: 261–268 (in Chinese)
  Google Scholar
• Wu XZ, Poirier FE (1995) Human evolution in China. Oxford University Press, Oxford
  Google Scholar
• Zhao T, Zhang G, Zhu Y, Zheng S, Liu D, Chen Q, Zhang X (1986) The distribution of immunoglobulin Gm allotypes in forty Chinese populations. Acta Anthropol Sin 6: 1–8 (in Chinese)
  Google Scholar

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

1. Human Genetics Center, University of Texas-Houston, 6901 Bertner Avenue, 77030, Houston, TX, USA
   Bing Su, Chunjie Xiao, Ranajit Chakraborty & Li Jin
2. Institute of Genetics, School of Life Sciences, Fudan University and Morgan-Tan International Center for Life Sciences, Shanghai, China
   Bing Su, Junhua Xiao, Daru Lu & Li Jin
3. Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, China
   Bing Su
4. Department of Biology, Yunnan University, Kunming, China
   Chunjie Xiao
5. Department of Environmental Health, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
   Ranjan Deka
6. Program for Population Genetics, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Mass., USA
   Mark T. Seielstad
7. Department of Biology, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai, Thailand
   Daoroong Kangwanpong
8. Department of Genetics, Stanford University, Stanford, Calif., USA
   Peter Underhill & Luca Cavalli-Sforza

Authors

1. Bing Su
   You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar
2. Chunjie Xiao
   You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar
3. Ranjan Deka
   You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar
4. Mark T. Seielstad
   You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar
5. Daoroong Kangwanpong
   You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar
6. Junhua Xiao
   You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar
7. Daru Lu
   You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar
8. Peter Underhill
   You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar
9. Luca Cavalli-Sforza
   You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar
10. Ranajit Chakraborty
    You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar
11. Li Jin
    You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence toLi Jin.

Rights and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Su, B., Xiao, C., Deka, R. et al. Y chromosome haplotypes reveal prehistorical migrations to the Himalayas.Hum Genet 107, 582–590 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1007/s004390000406

Download citation

• Received: 27 July 2000
• Accepted: 21 September 2000
• Issue Date: December 2000
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s004390000406

Keywords