title: Evolution and migration history of the Chinese population inferred from Chinese Y-chromosome evidence.
abstract: Y-chromosomes from 76 Chinese men covering 33 ethnic minorities throughout China as well as the Han majority were collected as genetic material for the study of Chinese nonrecombinant Y-chromosome (NRY) phylogeny. Of the accepted worldwide NRY haplogroups, three (haplogroups D, C, O) were significant in this sample, extending previous assessments of Chinese genetic diversity. Based on geographic, linguistic, and ethnohistorical information, the 33 Chinese ethnic minorities in our survey were divided into the following four subgroups: North, Tibet, West, and South. Inferred from the distribution of the newly found immediate ancestor lineage haplogroup O*, which has M214 but not M175, we argue that the southern origin scenario of this most common Chinese Y haplogroup is not very likely. We tentatively propose a West/North-origin hypothesis, suggesting that haplogroup O originated in West/North China and mainly evolved in China and thence spread further throughout eastern Eurasia. The nested cladistic analysis revealed in detail a multilayered, multidirectional, and continuous history of ethnic admixture that has shaped the contemporary Chinese population. Our results give some new clues to the evolution and migration of the Chinese population and its subsequence moving about in this land, which are in accordance with the historical records.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Bioinformatics, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 15 Datun Rd, Chaoyang Dist., Beijing, 100101, People's Republic of China.|Chinese Human Genome research Beijing Center, Beijing, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Deng
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Bioinformatics, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 15 Datun Rd, Chaoyang Dist., Beijing, 100101, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Baochen
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Bioinformatics, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 15 Datun Rd, Chaoyang Dist., Beijing, 100101, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Xiaoli
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: He
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Bioinformatics, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 15 Datun Rd, Chaoyang Dist., Beijing, 100101, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Zhihua
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiological Science and Laboratory of Neuroendocrinology of the Brain Research Institute, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Bioinformatics, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 15 Datun Rd, Chaoyang Dist., Beijing, 100101, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Biao
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Bioinformatics, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 15 Datun Rd, Chaoyang Dist., Beijing, 100101, People's Republic of China.|Chinese Human Genome research Beijing Center, Beijing, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Jian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Bioinformatics, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 15 Datun Rd, Chaoyang Dist., Beijing, 100101, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Lunjiang
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ling
authors.affiliation: Department of Ethnology, Central University for Nationalities, Beijing, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Chengping
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Dai
authors.affiliation: Chinese Human Genome research Beijing Center, Beijing, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Boqin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Qiang
authors.affiliation: Chinese Human Genome research Beijing Center, Beijing, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Bioinformatics, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 15 Datun Rd, Chaoyang Dist., Beijing, 100101, People's Republic of China. crs@sun5.ibp.ac.cn.
authors.forename: Runsheng
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D005075:Biological Evolution; D002681:China; D041322:Chromosomes, Human, Y; D004641:Emigration and Immigration; D005819:Genetic Markers; D006239:Haplotypes; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010802:Phylogeny
chemical_list: D005819:Genetic Markers