Abstract
BackgroundThe emergence of agriculture about 10,000 years ago marks a dramatic change in human evolutionary history. The diet shift in agriculture societies might have a great impact on the genetic makeup of Neolithic human populations. The regionally restricted enrichment of the class I alcohol dehydrogenase sequence polymorphism (ADH1BArg47His) in southern China and the adjacent areas suggests Darwinian positive selection on this genetic locus during Neolithic time though the driving force is yet to be disclosed.ResultsWe studied a total of 38 populations (2,275 individuals) including Han Chinese, Tibetan and other ethnic populations across China. The geographic distribution of the ADH1B*47His allele in these populations indicates a clear east-to-west cline, and it is dominant in south-eastern populations but rare in Tibetan populations. The molecular dating suggests that the emergence of the ADH1B*47His allele occurred about 10,000~7,000 years ago.ConclusionWe present genetic evidence of selection on the ADH1BArg47His polymorphism caused by the emergence and expansion of rice domestication in East Asia. The geographic distribution of the ADH1B*47His allele in East Asia is consistent with the unearthed culture relic sites of rice domestication in China. The estimated origin time of ADH1B*47His allele in those populations coincides with the time of origin and expansion of Neolithic agriculture in southern China.
Highlights
The emergence of agriculture about 10,000 years ago marks a dramatic change in human evolutionary history
Like the amylase gene selected for high copy numbers in agricultural societies including East Asia, the rice-culture-related selection could have been acting on populations living in southern China
ADH1B*47His allele frequency in East Asian populations We analyzed a total of 2,275 individuals from 38 East Asian populations, especially those not included in the previous reports
Summary
The emergence of agriculture about 10,000 years ago marks a dramatic change in human evolutionary history. The diet shift in agriculture societies might have a great impact on the genetic makeup of Neolithic human populations. The regionally restricted enrichment of the class I alcohol dehydrogenase sequence polymorphism (ADH1BArg47His) in southern China and the adjacent areas suggests Darwinian positive selection on this genetic locus during Neolithic time though the driving force is yet to be disclosed. Diet shifts may create different selective pressures acting on the genetic variations of human populations. In southern China, the earliest agriculture started to flourish due to the domestication of rice about 10,000 years ago [5]. Like the amylase gene selected for high copy numbers in agricultural societies including East Asia, the rice-culture-related selection could have been acting on populations living in southern China. Rice has been used as the material to produce fermented food and beverages for a long time in
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