title: Origins and genetic features of the Okhotsk people, revealed by ancient mitochondrial DNA analysis.
abstract: In order to investigate the phylogenetic status of the Okhotsk people that were distributed in northern and eastern Hokkaido as well as southern Sakhalin during the fifth to the thirteenth centuries, DNA was carefully extracted from human bone and tooth remains excavated from archaeological sites. The hypervariable region 1 sequences of the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) control region were successfully amplified and 16 mtDNA haplotypes were identified from 37 individuals of the Okhotsk people. Of the 16 haplotypes found, 6 were unique to the Okhotsk people, whereas the other 10 were shared by northeastern Asian people that are currently distributed around Sakhalin and downstream of the Amur River. The phylogenetic relationships inferred from mtDNA sequences showed that the Okhotsk people were more closely related to the Nivkhi and Ulchi people among populations of northeastern Asia. In addition, the Okhotsk people had a relatively closer genetic affinity with the Ainu people of Hokkaido, and were likely intermediates of gene flow from the northeastern Asian people to the Ainu people. These findings support the hypothesis that the Okhotsk culture joined the Satsumon culture (direct descendants of the Jomon people) resulting in the Ainu culture, as suggested by previous archaeological and anthropological studies.
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Science, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, 060-0810, Japan.
authors.forename: Takehiro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sato
authors.affiliation: Hokkaido University Museum, Sapporo, 060-0810, Japan.
authors.forename: Tetsuya
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Amano
authors.affiliation: Hokkaido University Museum, Sapporo, 060-0810, Japan.
authors.forename: Hiroko
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ono
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine, University of the Ryukyus, Nishihara, 903-0215, Japan.
authors.forename: Hajime
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ishida
authors.affiliation: School of Dental Medicine, Tsurumi University, Yokohama, 230-8501, Japan.
authors.forename: Haruto
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kodera
authors.affiliation: Sapporo Medical University, Sapporo, 060-8556, Japan.
authors.forename: Hirofumi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Matsumura
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, University of Tokyo, Kashiwa, 277-8562, Japan.
authors.forename: Minoru
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yoneda
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Science, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, 060-0810, Japan. masudary@ees.hokudai.ac.jp.|Creative Research Initiative "Sousei", Hokkaido University, Sapporo, 060-0810, Japan. masudary@ees.hokudai.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Ryuichi
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Masuda
mesh_terms: D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial / Q000235:genetics*; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D005580:Fossils; D006239:Haplotypes; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan / Q000208:ethnology; D007723:Korea / Q000208:ethnology; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny
chemical_list: D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial