Abstract
Population migrations in Southwest and South China have played an important role in the formation of East Asian populations and led to a high degree of cultural diversity among ethnic minorities living in these areas. To explore the genetic relationships of these ethnic minorities, we systematically surveyed the variation of 10 autosomal STR markers of 1,538 individuals from 30 populations of 25 ethnic minorities, of which the majority were chosen from Southwest China, especially Yunnan Province. With genotyped data of the markers, we constructed phylogenies of these populations with both DA and DC measures and performed a principal component analysis, as well as a clustering analysis by structure. Results showed that we successfully recovered the genetic structure of analyzed populations formed by historical migrations. Aggregation patterns of these populations accord well with their linguistic affiliations, suggesting that deciphering of genetic relationships does in fact offer clues for study of ethnic differentiation.
Highlights
Other than the majority Han Chinese, there are 55 ethnic minorities living in China, composing 9.44% of the Chinese national population (2006 data from the National Bureau of Statistics of China)
As migration is the basic source of ethnic formation and differentiation [2], investigations of genetic relationships of populations resulting from migration are of enormous help in understanding the history of ethnic differentiation and today’s high-degree ethnic diversity in China
All 1,538 DNA samples used in this study were obtained from 30 ethnic panels of immortalized cell lines created by the Chinese Human Genome Diversity Project (CHGDP) [27,28]
Summary
Other than the majority Han Chinese, there are 55 ethnic minorities living in China, composing 9.44% of the Chinese national population (2006 data from the National Bureau of Statistics of China) Most of these minorities inhabit peripheral regions of China, especially border provinces such as Yunnan, Guangxi, and Tibet, where special landforms like the Hengduan Mountains vastly influenced their lives and history [1]. These minorities occupy their individual indigenous homelands where native mythologies are disseminated, following distinctive local traditions as they go about their daily lives. As migration is the basic source of ethnic formation and differentiation [2], investigations of genetic relationships of populations resulting from migration are of enormous help in understanding the history of ethnic differentiation and today’s high-degree ethnic diversity in China
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