title: Genetic structure of Tibetan populations in Gansu revealed by forensic STR loci.
abstract: The origin and diversification of Sino-Tibetan speaking populations have been long-standing hot debates. However, the limited genetic information of Tibetan populations keeps this topic far from clear. In the present study, we genotyped 15 forensic autosomal short tandem repeats (STRs) from 803 unrelated Tibetan individuals from Gansu Province (635 from Gannan and 168 from Tianzhu) in northwest China. We combined these data with published dataset to infer a detailed population affinities and genetic substructure of Sino-Tibetan populations. Our results revealed Tibetan populations in Gannan and Tianzhu are genetically very similar with Tibetans from other regions. The Tibetans in Tianzhu have received more genetic influence from surrounding lowland populations. The genetic structure of Sino-Tibetan populations was strongly correlated with linguistic affiliations. Although the among-population variances are relatively small, the genetic components for Tibetan, Lolo-Burmese, and Han Chinese were quite distinctive, especially for the Deng, Nu, and Derung of Lolo-Burmese. Han Chinese but not Tibetans are suggested to share substantial genetic component with southern natives, such as Tai-Kadai and Hmong-Mien speaking populations, and with other lowland East Asian populations, which implies there might be extensive gene flow between those lowland groups and Han Chinese after Han Chinese were separated from Tibetans. The dataset generated in present study is also valuable for forensic identification and paternity tests in China.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Evidence Science of Gansu Province, Gansu Institute of Political Science and Law, Lanzhou 730070, China.
authors.forename: Hong-Bing
authors.initials: HB
authors.lastname: Yao
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Genetic Engineering and Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Contemporary Anthropology, Collaborative Innovation Center for Genetics and Development, School of Life Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200433, China.|Department of Archaeogenetics and Eurasia3angle research group, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Kahlaische Straße 10, 07745 Jena, Germany.
authors.forename: Chuan-Chao
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: College of Animal Sciences and Veterinary Medicine, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou 450002, Henan Province, China.
authors.forename: Jiang
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Evidence Science of Gansu Province, Gansu Institute of Political Science and Law, Lanzhou 730070, China.
authors.forename: Xiaolan
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Tao
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Forensic Genetics, Institute of Forensic Science, Ministry of Public Security, Beijing, 100038, China.
authors.forename: Lei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Shang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Genetic Engineering and Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Contemporary Anthropology, Collaborative Innovation Center for Genetics and Development, School of Life Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200433, China.
authors.forename: Shao-Qing
authors.initials: SQ
authors.lastname: Wen
authors.affiliation: Lanzhou University Second Hospital Clinical Laboratory, Lanzhou 730000, Gansu Province, China.
authors.forename: Qiajun
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Du
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy, Guangxi Medical University, Nanning 530021, China.
authors.forename: Qiongying
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Deng
authors.affiliation: School of Forensic Medicine, Kunming Medical University, Kunming, 650500, China.
authors.forename: Bingying
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: School of Forensic Medicine, Kunming Medical University, Kunming, 650500, China.
authors.forename: Ying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Medical Genetic Institute of Henan Province, Henan Provincial People's Hospital, People's Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China.
authors.forename: Hong-Dan
authors.initials: HD
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Hebei Key Laboratory of Forensic Medicine, Department of Forensic Medicine, Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang, 050017, China.
authors.forename: Shujin
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Hebei Key Laboratory of Forensic Medicine, Department of Forensic Medicine, Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang, 050017, China.
authors.lastname: Bin Cong
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Evidence Science of Gansu Province, Gansu Institute of Political Science and Law, Lanzhou 730070, China.
authors.forename: Liying
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Genetic Engineering and Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Contemporary Anthropology, Collaborative Innovation Center for Genetics and Development, School of Life Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200433, China.|CAS-MPG Partner Institute for Computational Biology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 200031 Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Jin
authors.affiliation: Department of Archaeogenetics and Eurasia3angle research group, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Kahlaische Straße 10, 07745 Jena, Germany.
authors.forename: Johannes
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Krause
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Genetic Engineering and Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Contemporary Anthropology, Collaborative Innovation Center for Genetics and Development, School of Life Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200433, China.
authors.forename: Hui
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Li
mesh_terms: D044466:Asian People / Q000235:genetics*; D002681:China; D005828:Genetics, Population; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D018609:Tibet