title: Population genetic structure and origins of Native Hawaiians in the multiethnic cohort study.
abstract: The population genetic structure of Native Hawaiians has yet to be comprehensively studied, and the ancestral origins of Polynesians remain in question. In this study, we utilized high-resolution genome-wide SNP data and mitochondrial genomes of 148 and 160 Native Hawaiians, respectively, to characterize their population structure of the nuclear and mitochondrial genomes, ancestral origins, and population expansion. Native Hawaiians, who self-reported full Native Hawaiian heritage, demonstrated 78% Native Hawaiian, 11.5% European, and 7.8% Asian ancestry with 99% belonging to the B4 mitochondrial haplogroup. The estimated proportions of Native Hawaiian ancestry for those who reported mixed ancestry (i.e. 75% and 50% Native Hawaiian heritage) were found to be consistent with their self-reported heritage. A significant proportion of Melanesian ancestry (mean = 32%) was estimated in 100% self-reported Native Hawaiians in an ADMIXTURE analysis of Asian, Melanesian, and Native Hawaiian populations of K = 2, where K denotes the number of ancestral populations. This notable proportion of Melanesian admixture supports the "Slow-Boat" model of migration of ancestral Polynesian populations from East Asia to the Pacific Islands. In addition, approximately 1,300 years ago a single, strong expansion of the Native Hawaiian population was estimated. By providing important insight into the underlying population structure of Native Hawaiians, this study lays the foundation for future genetic association studies of this U.S. minority population.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Human Genetics, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, California, United States of America.
authors.forename: Sung K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Christopher R
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Gignoux
authors.forename: Jeffrey D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Wall
authors.forename: Annette
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lum-Jones
authors.forename: Hansong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Christopher A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Haiman
authors.forename: Gary K
authors.initials: GK
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Brian E
authors.initials: BE
authors.lastname: Henderson
authors.forename: Laurence N
authors.initials: LN
authors.lastname: Kolonel
authors.forename: Loic
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Le Marchand
authors.forename: Daniel O
authors.initials: DO
authors.lastname: Stram
authors.forename: Richa
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Saxena
authors.forename: Iona
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Cheng
mesh_terms: D001499:Bayes Theorem; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D005787:Gene Frequency; D015894:Genome, Human; D054629:Genome, Mitochondrial; D006254:Hawaii; D063426:Human Migration; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008957:Models, Genetic; D044468:Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander / Q000235:genetics*; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D011158:Population Growth