[The genetic relation of four ethnic populations in China's Guizhou is revealed by sequence variations of mtDNA D-loop].
OBJECTIVE
Through maternal inheritance, to explore the genetic structures and relationships of Dong, Gelao, Tujia and Yi ethnic population in Guizhou of China.


METHODS
The mtDNA D-loop hypervariable segment I (HVS I ) in 108 samples of four ethnic populations were sequenced. Then, the nucleotide diversity was estimated and a phylogenetic tree was constructed by Neighbor-Joining method.


RESULTS
In the detected 497 bp fragments, 86 polymorphic sites were found, and 82 different haplotypes were identified. The phylogenetic tree of four ethnic populations showed: Yi, Tujia and Gelao clustered more closely than Dong did.


CONCLUSIONS
Yi and Tujia population are very closely related, the reason may be that they either originate from a common ancestry or frequently undergo the gene exchanges and admixtures. The genetic relationship between Tujia and Gelao population is nearer, perhaps because they have settled in the adjacent regions. Dong and Yi population show the farthest genetic relationship, this is probably due to their different historical origins and geographic segregation.
Li
Bin-bin
BB
Department of Pathophysiology, Guangdong Medical College, Zhanjiang, Guangdong 524023, P. R. China.
Zhong
Fu-guang
FG
Yi
Hong-sheng
HS
Wang
Xian-ran
XR
Li
Liang-fang
LF
Wang
Li-lan
LL
Qi
Xiao-lan
XL
Wu
Li-fu
LF
D001483:Base Sequence; D002681:China; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial / Q000737:chemistry / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics*; D005006:Ethnicity / Q000235:genetics*; D014644:Genetic Variation; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic / Q000235:genetics; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D012689:Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid
D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial