title: A spatial analysis of genetic structure of human populations in China reveals distinct difference between maternal and paternal lineages.
abstract: Analyses of archeological, anatomical, linguistic, and genetic data suggested consistently the presence of a significant boundary between the populations of north and south in China. However, the exact location and the strength of this boundary have remained controversial. In this study, we systematically explored the spatial genetic structure and the boundary of north-south division of human populations using mtDNA data in 91 populations and Y-chromosome data in 143 populations. Our results highlight a distinct difference between spatial genetic structures of maternal and paternal lineages. A substantial genetic differentiation between northern and southern populations is the characteristic of maternal structure, with a significant uninterrupted genetic boundary extending approximately along the Huai River and Qin Mountains north to Yangtze River. On the paternal side, however, no obvious genetic differentiation between northern and southern populations is revealed.
authors.affiliation: MOE Key Laboratory of Contemporary Anthropology and Center for Evolutionary Biology, School of Life Sciences, Fudan University, 220 Handan Road, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Fuzhong
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Xue
authors.forename: Yi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Shuhua
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Feng
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Bo
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Wen
authors.forename: Xuesen
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Ming
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: Ranjan
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Deka
authors.forename: Ji
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Qian
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Jin
mesh_terms: D002681:China; D041322:Chromosomes, Human, Y; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial / Q000235:genetics; D030541:Databases, Genetic; D005260:Female; D018392:Genomic Imprinting; D006239:Haplotypes; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic
chemical_list: D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial