Autosomal Microsatellite Investigation Reveals Multiple Genetic Components of the Highlanders from Thailand.

Aornpriya Mawan,Suparat Srithawong,Angkhana Inta,Wibhu Kutanan,Rasmi Shoocongdej,Metawee Srikummool,Nonglak Prakhun,Kanha Muisuk,Jatupol Kampuansai,Sukhum Ruangchai

doi:10.3390/genes12030383

Aornpriya Mawan, Suparat Srithawong + Show 8 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/genes12030383

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Abstract

The hill tribes of northern Thailand comprise nine officially recognized groups: the Austroasiatic-speaking (AA) Khmu, Htin and Lawa; the Hmong-Mien-speaking (HM) IuMien and Hmong; and the Sino-Tibetan-speaking (ST) Akha, Karen, Lahu and Lisu. Except the Lawa, the rest of the hill tribes migrated into their present habitats only very recently. The Thai hill tribes were of much interest to research groups focusing on study of cultural and genetic variation because of their unique languages and cultures. So far, there have been several genetic studies of the Thai hill tribes. However, complete forensic microsatellite database of the Thai hill tribes is still lacking. To construct such database, we newly generated 654 genotypes of 15 microsatellites commonly used in forensic investigation that belong to all the nine hill tribes and also non-hill tribe highlanders from northern Thailand. We also combined 329 genotypes from previous studies of northern Thai populations bringing to a total of 983 genotypes, which were then subjected to genetic structure and population relationships analyses. Our overall results indicated homogenous genetic structure within the HM- and Tai-Kadai (TK)-speaking groups, large genetic divergence of the HM-speaking Hmong but not IuMien from the other Thai groups, and genetic heterogeneity within the ST- and AA-speaking groups, reflecting different population interactions and admixtures. In addition to establishing genetic relationships within and among these populations, our finding, which provides a more complete picture of the forensic microsatellite database of the multiple Thai highland dwellers, would not only serve to expand and strengthen forensic investigation in Thailand, but would also benefit its neighboring countries of Laos and Myanmar, from which many of the Thai hill tribes originated and where large populations of these ethnic groups still reside.

Highlights

Northern and western Thailand are geographically characterized by several small river plains separated by steep mountainous ranges
The total gene diversity of the combined hill tribes was 0.767 ± 0.385 while that in individual populations of both the hill tribes and non-hill tribes ranged from 0.707 ± 0.363 in the Lahu Red to
TK) is much smaller (1.06%) (p < 0.05) than the variation among populations assigned to each group (3.11%) (p < 0.05), indicating that language families do not correspond to the genetic structures of these populations

Summary

Introduction

Northern and western Thailand are geographically characterized by several small river plains separated by steep mountainous ranges. These areas share borders with Myanmar to the west and with Laos to the east (Figure 1). The many ethnicities inhabiting these regions can be categorized into two groups: the lowlanders and highlanders (consisting of hill tribes and non-hill tribes). The Tai-Kadai (TK)-speaking populations, e.g., Yuan, constitute the major groups who live in lowland areas, while most of the highlanders speak. Austroasiatic (AA), Sino-Tibetan (ST) and Hmong-Mien (HM) languages. Htin and Lawa; the HM-speaking IuMien and Hmong; and the ST-speaking Akha, Karen, Lahu and Lisu [1,2].

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