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

Abstract

Background Fine-scale genetic structure of ethnolinguistically diverse Chinese populations can fill the gap in the missing diversity and evolutionary landscape of East Asians, particularly for anthropologically informed Chinese minorities. Hmong–Mien (HM) people were one of the most significant indigenous populations in South China and Southeast Asia, which were suggested to be the descendants of the ancient Yangtze rice farmers based on linguistic and archeological evidence. However, their deep population history and biological adaptative features remained to be fully characterized. Objectives To explore the evolutionary and adaptive characteristics of the Miao people, we genotyped genome-wide SNP data in Guizhou HM-speaking populations and merged it with modern and ancient reference populations via a comprehensive population genetic analysis and evolutionary admixture modeling. Results The overall genetic admixture landscape of Guizhou Miao showed genetic differentiation between them and other linguistically diverse Guizhou populations. Admixture models further confirmed that Miao people derived their primary ancestry from geographically close Guangxi Gaohuahua people. The estimated identity by descent and effective population size confirmed a plausible population bottleneck, contributing to their unique genetic diversity and population structure patterns. We finally identified several natural selection candidate genes associated with several biological pathways. Conclusions Guizhou Miao possessed a specific genetic structure and harbored a close genetic relationship with geographically close southern Chinese indigenous populations and Guangxi historical people. Miao people derived their major ancestry from geographically close Guangxi Gaohuahua people and experienced a plausible population bottleneck which contributed to the unique pattern of their genetic diversity and structure. Future ancient DNA from Shijiahe and Qujialing will provide new insights into the origin of the Miao people.

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

“…5 D). We interestingly identified that Hmong people from Southeast Asia possessed the largest proportion of O2 lineage, which was consistent with the long-distance population migration and connection inferred from the genome-wide SNP data [ 57 ]. The reconstructed phylogenetic relationship based on the pairwise Fst matrix showed two major branches associated with the stratification of haplogroup composition of Southeast and East Asia (Fig.…”

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

“…Public data from the HGDP [ 74 ] and Oceania genomic resource [ 12 ], AADR (HO dataset and 1240 K dataset) [ 75 ] from David Reich Lab [ 76 ], and our previously reported populations genotyped via Affymetrix Array chip [ 26 , 39 – 42 ] were included to form the following four merged datasets. The high-density SNP dataset included population data from Miao, Jing, Zhuang, Li, Tujia, and Mongolian, which included 465,941 SNPs [ 40 – 43 , 77 , 78 ]. High-density global dataset included populations from HGDP and Oceania genomic resources, which included 424,501 SNPs.…”

Genetic history of esophageal cancer group in southwestern China revealed by Y‐chromosome STRs and genomic evolutionary connection analysis

“…The results of Liu et al's analysis of Y-SNPs and Y-STRs both indicated that patients with esophageal cancer (EC) and gastric cardia cancer in the Chaoshan region have a closer genetic affinity with patients from the Taihang Mountains, and the relationship between patients and high-risk populations was even tighter [ 9 ]. He et al revealed the unique natural selection signatures and biological adaptations of Hmong-Mien speakers through SNP-based allele and haplotype sharing and identified genetic loci linked to immune dysfunction, alcohol, and coronary heart disease in Hmong-Mien speakers in Southwest China's Guizhou region [ 10 ]. Combining SNPs and Y-STR analysis with the study of the genetic background of populations specific to certain diseases has revealed the genetic patterns of these groups, emphasizing the importance of considering genetic diversity in disease research.…”