Search

Short tandem repeats (STRs) are the preferred genetic markers in forensic DNA analysis, routinely measured by capillary electrophoresis (CE) method based on the fragment length features. While, the massive parallel sequencing (MPS) technology could simultaneously target a large number of intriguing forensic STRs, bypassing the intrinsic limitations of amplicon size separation and accessible fluorophores in CE, which is efficient and promising for enabling the identification of forensic biological evidence. Here, we developed a novel MPS-based Forensic Analysis System Multiplecues SetB Kit of 133-plex forensic STR markers (52 STRs and 81 Y-STRs) and one Y-InDel (M175) based on multiplex PCR and single-end 400 bp sequencing strategy. This panel was subjected to developmental validation studies according to the SWGDAM Validation Guidelines. Approximately 2185 MPS-based reactions using 6 human DNA standards and 8 male donors were conducted for substrate studies (filter paper, gauze, cotton swab, four different types of FTA cards, peripheral venous blood, saliva, and exfoliated cells), sensitivity studies (from 2 ng down to 0.0625 ng), mixture studies (two-person DNA mixtures), PCR inhibitor studies (seven commonly encountered PCR inhibitors), species specificity studies (11 non-human species), and repeatability studies. Results of concordance studies (413 Han males and 6 human DNA standards) generated by STRait Razor and in-house Python scripts indicated 99.98% concordance rate in STR calling relative to CE for STRs between 41,900 genotypes at 100 STR markers. Moreover, the limitations of present studies, the nomenclature rules and forensic MPS applications were also described. In conclusion, the validation studies based on ~ 2200 MPS-based and ~ 2500 CE-based DNA profiles demonstrated that the novel MPS-based panel meets forensic DNA quality assurance guidelines with robust, reliable, and reproducible performance on samples of various quantities and qualities, and the STR nomenclature rules should be further regulated to integrate the inconformity between MPS-based and CE-based methods.

The identity of the earliest inhabitants of Xinjiang, in the heart of Inner Asia, and the languages that they spoke have long been debated and remain contentious1. Here we present genomic data from 5 individuals dating to around 3000–2800 bc from the Dzungarian Basin and 13 individuals dating to around 2100–1700 bc from the Tarim Basin, representing the earliest yet discovered human remains from North and South Xinjiang, respectively. We find that the Early Bronze Age Dzungarian individuals exhibit a predominantly Afanasievo ancestry with an additional local contribution, and the Early–Middle Bronze Age Tarim individuals contain only a local ancestry. The Tarim individuals from the site of Xiaohe further exhibit strong evidence of milk proteins in their dental calculus, indicating a reliance on dairy pastoralism at the site since its founding. Our results do not support previous hypotheses for the origin of the Tarim mummies, who were argued to be Proto-Tocharian-speaking pastoralists descended from the Afanasievo1,2 or to have originated among the Bactria–Margiana Archaeological Complex3 or Inner Asian Mountain Corridor cultures4. Instead, although Tocharian may have been plausibly introduced to the Dzungarian Basin by Afanasievo migrants during the Early Bronze Age, we find that the earliest Tarim Basin cultures appear to have arisen from a genetically isolated local population that adopted neighbouring pastoralist and agriculturalist practices, which allowed them to settle and thrive along the shifting riverine oases of the Taklamakan Desert., A genomic analysis of human remains from the Bronze Age provides insights into the origin of the Tarim Basin mummies from the Xinjiang region.

The deep population history of East Asia remains poorly understood owing to a lack of ancient DNA data and sparse sampling of present-day people1,2. Here we report genome-wide data from 166 East Asian individuals dating to between 6000 bc and ad 1000 and 46 present-day groups. Hunter-gatherers from Japan, the Amur River Basin, and people of Neolithic and Iron Age Taiwan and the Tibetan Plateau are linked by a deeply splitting lineage that probably reflects a coastal migration during the Late Pleistocene epoch. We also follow expansions during the subsequent Holocene epoch from four regions. First, hunter-gatherers from Mongolia and the Amur River Basin have ancestry shared by individuals who speak Mongolic and Tungusic languages, but do not carry ancestry characteristic of farmers from the West Liao River region (around 3000 bc), which contradicts theories that the expansion of these farmers spread the Mongolic and Tungusic proto-languages. Second, farmers from the Yellow River Basin (around 3000 bc) probably spread Sino-Tibetan languages, as their ancestry dispersed both to Tibet—where it forms approximately 84% of the gene pool in some groups—and to the Central Plain, where it has contributed around 59–84% to modern Han Chinese groups. Third, people from Taiwan from around 1300 bc to ad 800 derived approximately 75% of their ancestry from a lineage that is widespread in modern individuals who speak Austronesian, Tai–Kadai and Austroasiatic languages, and that we hypothesize derives from farmers of the Yangtze River Valley. Ancient people from Taiwan also derived about 25% of their ancestry from a northern lineage that is related to, but different from, farmers of the Yellow River Basin, which suggests an additional north-to-south expansion. Fourth, ancestry from Yamnaya Steppe pastoralists arrived in western Mongolia after around 3000 bc but was displaced by previously established lineages even while it persisted in western China, as would be expected if this ancestry was associated with the spread of proto-Tocharian Indo-European languages. Two later gene flows affected western Mongolia: migrants after around 2000 bc with Yamnaya and European farmer ancestry, and episodic influences of later groups with ancestry from Turan. Genome-wide data from 166 East Asian individuals dating to between 6000 bc and ad 1000 and from 46 present-day groups provide insights into the histories of mixture and migration of human populations in East Asia.

Objectives Subbranches of Y-chromosome haplogroup C2a-L1373 are founding paternal lineages in northern Asia and Native American populations. Our objective was to investigate C2a-L1373 differentiation in northern Asia and its implications for Native American origins. Materials and methods Sequences of rare subbranches (n = 43) and ancient individuals (n = 37) of C2a-L1373 (including P39 and MPB373), were used to construct phylogenetic trees with age estimation by BEAST software. Results C2a-L1373 expanded rapidly approximately 17.7,000-14.3,000 years ago (kya) after the last glacial maximum (LGM), generating numerous sublineages which became founding paternal lineages of modern northern Asian and Native American populations (C2a-P39 and C2a-MPB373). The divergence pattern supports possible initiation of differentiation in low latitude regions of northern Asia and northward diffusion after the LGM. There is a substantial gap between the divergence times of C2a-MPB373 (approximately 22.4 or 17.7 kya) and C2a-P39 (approximately 14.3 kya), indicating two possible migration waves. Discussion We discussed the decreasing time interval of "Beringian standstill" (2.5 ky or smaller) and its reduced significance. We also discussed the multiple possibilities for the peopling of the Americas: the "Long-term Beringian standstill model," the "Short-term Beringian standstill model," and the "Multiple waves of migration model." Our results support the argument from ancient DNA analyses that the direct ancestor group of Native Americans is an admixture of "Ancient Northern Siberians" and Paleolithic communities from the Amur region, which appeared during the post-LGM era, rather than ancient populations in greater Beringia, or an adjacent region, before the LGM.

Aksay Kazakhs are the easternmost branch of Kazakhs, residing in Jiuquan city, the forefront of the ancient Silk Road. However, the genetic diversity of Aksay Kazakhs and its relationships with other Kazakhs still lack attention. To clarify this issue, we analyzed the non-recombining portion of the Y-chromosome from 93 Aksay Kazakhs samples, using a high-resolution analysis of 106 biallelic markers and 17 STRs. The lowest haplogroup diversity (0.38) was observed in Aksay Kazakhs among all studied Kazakh populations. The social and cultural traditions of the Kazakhs shaped their current pattern of genetic variation. Aksay Kazakhs tended to migrate with clans and had limited paternal admixture with neighboring populations. Aksay Kazakhs had the highest frequency (80%) of haplogroup C2b1a3a1-F3796 (previous C3*-Star Cluster) among the investigated Eurasian steppe populations, which was now seen as the genetic marker of Kerei clan. Furthermore, NETWORK analysis indicated that Aksay Kazakhs originated from sub-clan Kerei-Abakh in Kazakhstan with DYS448 = 23. TMRCA estimates of three recent descent clusters detected in C2*-M217 (xM48) network, one of which incorporate nearly all of the C2b1a3a1-F3796 Aksay Kazakhs samples, gave the age range of 976-1405 YA for DC1, 1059-1314 YA for DC2, and 1139-1317 YA for DC3, respectively; this is coherent with the 7th to the 11th centuries Altaic-speaking pastoral nomadic population expansion.

Archeologists and chronologists have realized that dating age divergence exists in some human fossil sites. However, this problem has not been systematically elaborated and studied to date. This paper makes statistics and analysis on the dating results of 86 published Chinese human fossil sites and attempts to clarify this problem. We find that the U-series dating method has the largest proportion of application and occupies a prominent position in each dating method, 37 sites use one dating method, and 28 sites utilize more than two (including two) methods. Dating age divergence uses different methods in the same site, of which 17 sites are with large age divergence. We assume that the following are the reasons for the large dating age divergence in the same site: The taphonomy problems and the difference of the dating method itself. In summary, the problem of the dating age divergence in the same site is common. The taphonomy problems of human fossil sites must be discovered and corrected through multiple dating methods. The difference of the dating method itself also needs the combination of multiple dating methods for evaluation and judgment. We suggest the following multiple dating strategies: Early Pleistocene human fossil sites should mainly rely on paleomagnetic dating, and 26Al/10Be burial dating, climatic stratigraphy, and ESR dating methods should be combined to obtain a relatively accurate human fossil age. Middle Pleistocene sites should be based on paleomagnetic dating, climatic stratigraphy, 26Al/10Be burial dating, U series, ESR/U series, TT-OSL, and pIRIR dating methods. Three or more dating methods must be selected for cross-examination. Late Pleistocene site dating must be performed on the basis of U series, 14C, and OSL dating methods. 14C dating and DNA analysis can be cautiously conducted in Late Pleistocene sites. The use of multiple dating methods can avoid accidental errors caused by only one dating method, especially in the cave sites of Middle and Late Pleistocene. The summary of the dating results for 86 Chinese human fossil sites shows that some sites have applied multiple dating methods. After cross-checking, the following sites obtained reliable ages: Yuanmou, Zhoukoudian Localities, Bailong Cave, Dali, Panxian Dadong, Jinniushan, Xujiayao, Tianyuan Cave, Shuidonggou, and Xiaogushan. Certain sites should be further checked by adding dating methods, such as, Yunxian, Hualongdong, Maba, Changyang, Hexian, Ganqian Cave, Xinglong Cave, Luna Cave, Huanglong Cave, Fuyan Cave, Wuguidong Cave, Xianren Cave, Tongzi Cave, Mao-Mao-dong Cave, Chuandong, and Maludong. Twenty-one sites, such as, Meipu Longgu Cave, Jimuyan Cave, Baojiyan Cave, Guoshandong Cave, and Zhuzailong Cave, still have no dating research. We must make a detailed investigation and reinvestigation because the fossil discovery records of these sites may be unclear, or they may have unsuitable dating materials. Obtaining some ages from these sites is significant. The accurate age of human fossil is the basis for establishing the correct theory of human evolution in China. Multiple dating strategies should be adopted for the newly discovered human fossil sites. Such strategies should be used to check and evaluate the age of some important Chinese human fossil sites that have been previously discovered. Doing so can further improve the reliability of the dating results for Chinese human fossil sites.

The Fujian Tanka people are officially classified as a southern Han ethnic group, whereas they have customs similar to Daic and Austronesion people. Whether they originated in Han or Daic people, there is no consensus. Three hypotheses have been proposed to explain the origin of this group: (1) the Han Chinese origin, (2) the ancient Daic origin, (3) and the admixture between Daic and Han. This study addressed this issue by analyzing the paternal Y chromosome and maternal mtDNA variation of 62 Fujian Tanka and 25 neighboring Han in Fujian. The southern East Asian predominant haplogroups (e.g., Y-chromosome O1a1a-P203 and O1b1a1a-M95, and mtDNA F2a, M7c1, and F1a1) had relatively high frequencies in Tanka. The interpopulation comparison revealed that the Tanka have a closer affinity with Daic populations than with Han Chinese in paternal lineages but are closely clustered with southern Han populations such as Hakka and Chaoshanese in maternal lineages. Network and haplotype-sharing analyses also support the admixture hypothesis. The Fujian Tanka mainly originate from the ancient indigenous Daic people and have only limited gene flows from Han Chinese populations. Notably, the divergence time inferred by the Tanka-specific haplotypes indicates that the formation of Fujian Tanka was a least 1033.8-1050.6 years before present (the early Northern Song dynasty), indicating that they are an indigenous population, not late Daic migrants from southwestern China.

Northern Pakistan is home to many diverse ethnicities and languages. The region acted as a prime corridor for ancient invasions and population migrations between Western Eurasia and South Asia. Kho, one of the major ethnic groups living in this region, resides in the remote and isolated mountainous region in the Chitral Valley of the Hindu Kush Mountain range. They are culturally and linguistically distinct from the rest of the Pakistani population groups and their genetic ancestry is still unknown. In this study, we generated genome-wide genotype data of ~1 M loci (Illumina WeGene array) for 116 unrelated Kho individuals and carried out comprehensive analyses in the context of worldwide extant and ancient anatomically modern human populations across Eurasia. The results inferred that the Kho can trace a large proportion of their ancestry to the population who migrated south from the Southern Siberian steppes during the second millennium BCE ~110 generations ago. An additional wave of gene flow from a population carrying East Asian ancestry was also identified in the Kho that occurred ~60 generations ago and may possibly be linked to the expansion of the Tibetan Empire during 7th to 9th centuries CE (current era) in the northwestern regions of the Indian sub-continent. We identified several candidate regions suggestive of positive selection in the Kho, that included genes mainly involved in pigmentation, immune responses, muscular development, DNA repair, and tumor suppression.

Predicting the biogeographical ancestries of populations and unknown individuals based on ancestry-informative markers (AIMs) has been widely applied in providing DNA clues to criminal investigations, correcting the factor of population stratification in genome-wide association studies (GWAS), and working as the basis of predicting the externally visible characteristics (EVCs) of individuals. The present study chose Chinese Xinjiang Kazak (XJK) group as research object using a 165 AIM-SNPs panel via next generation sequencing (NGS) technology to reveal its ancestral information and genetic background by referencing the populations’ data from 1000 Genomes Phase 3. After the Bonferroni correction, there were no significant deviations at the 165 AIM-SNP loci except two loci with homozygote in the studied XJK group. Ancestry information inference and populations genetic analyses were conducted basing on multiplex statistical methods such as forensic statistical parameter analyses, estimation of the success ratios with cross-validation, population tree, principal component analysis (PCA), and genetic structure analysis. The present results revealed that XJK group had the admixed ancestral components of East Asian and European populations with the ratio of about 62:37.

Genghis Khan's lineage has attracted both academic and general interest because of its mystery and large influence. However, the truth behind the mystery is complicated and continues to confound the scientific study. In this study, we surveyed the molecular genealogy of Northwestern China's Lu clan who claim to be the descendants of the sixth son of Genghis Khan, Toghan. We also investigated living members of the Huo and Tuo clans, who, according to oral tradition, were close male relatives of Lu clan. Using network analysis, we found that the Y-chromosomal haplotypes of Lu clan mainly belong to haplogroup C2b1a1b1-F1756, widely prevalent in Altaic-speaking populations, and are closely related to the Tore clan from Kazakhstan, who claim to be the descendants of the first son of Genghis Khan, Jochi. The most recent common ancestor of the special haplotype cluster that includes the Lu clan and Tore clan lived about 1000 years ago (YA), while the Huo and Tuo clans do not share any Y lineages with the Lu clan. In addition to the reported lineages, such as C3*-Star Cluster, R1b-M343, and Q, our results indicate that haplogroup C2b1a1b1-F1756 might be another candidate of the true Y lineage of Genghis Khan.

The Y-chromosome haplogroup C2b1a3a2-F8951 is the paternal lineage of the Aisin Gioro clan, the most important brother branch of the famous Mongolic-speaking population characteristic haplogroup C2*-Star Cluster (C2b1a3a1-F3796). However, investigations on its internal phylogeny are still limited. In this study, we used whole Y-chromosome sequencing to update its phylogenetic tree. In the revised tree, C2b1a3a2-F8951 and C2*-Star Cluster differentiated 3852 years ago (95% CI = 3295-4497). Approximately 3558 years ago (95% CI = 3013-4144), C2b1a3a2-F8951 was divided into two main subclades, C2b1a3a2a-F14753 and C2b1a3a2b-F5483. Currently, samples of C2b1a3a2-F8951 were mainly from the House of Aisin Gioro clan, the Ao family from Daur and some individuals mainly from northeast China. Although other haplogroups are also found in the Ao family, including C2b1a2-M48, C2b1a3a1-F3796, C2a1b-F845, and N1c-M178, the haplogroup C2b1a3a2-F8951 is still the most distinct genetic component. For haplogroup C2b1a3a2-F8951, the time of the most recent common ancestor of the House of Aisin Gioro clan and the Ao family were both very late, just a few hundred years ago. Some family-specific Y-SNPs of the House of Aisin Gioro and the Ao family were also discovered. This revision evidently improved the resolving power of Y-chromosome phylogeny in northeast Asia, deepening our understanding of the origin of these two families, even the Mongolic-speaking population.

Objectives The Hui people are the adherents of Muslim faith and distributing throughout China. There are two contrasting hypotheses about the origin and diversification of the Hui people, namely, the demic diffusion involving the mass movement of people or simple cultural diffusion. Materials and methods We collected 621 unrelated male individuals from 23 Hui populations all over China. We comprehensively genotyped more than 100 informative Y-chromosomal single nucleotide polymorphisms and 17 Y-chromosomal short tandem repeats (STRs) on those samples. Results Co-analyzed with published worldwide populations, our results suggest the origin of Hui people has involved massive assimilation of indigenous East Asians with about 70% in total of the paternal ancestry could be traced back to East Asia and the left 30% to various regions in West Eurasia. Discussion The genetic structure of the extant Hui populations was primarily shaped by the indigenous East Asian populations as they contribute the majority part of the paternal lineages of Hui people. The West Eurasian admixture was probably a sex-biased male-driven process since we have not found such a high proportion of West Eurasian gene flow on autosomal STRs and maternal mtDNA.

Short tandem repeats (STRs) are the preferred genetic markers in forensic DNA analysis, routinely measured by capillary electrophoresis (CE) method based on the fragment length features. While, the massive parallel sequencing (MPS) technology could simultaneously target a large number of intriguing forensic STRs, bypassing the intrinsic limitations of amplicon size separation and accessible fluorophores in CE, which is efficient and promising for enabling the identification of forensic biological evidence. Here, we developed a novel MPS-based Forensic Analysis System Multiplecues SetB Kit of 133-plex forensic STR markers (52 STRs and 81 Y-STRs) and one Y-InDel (M175) based on multiplex PCR and single-end 400 bp sequencing strategy. This panel was subjected to developmental validation studies according to the SWGDAM Validation Guidelines. Approximately 2185 MPS-based reactions using 6 human DNA standards and 8 male donors were conducted for substrate studies (filter paper, gauze, cotton swab, four different types of FTA cards, peripheral venous blood, saliva, and exfoliated cells), sensitivity studies (from 2 ng down to 0.0625 ng), mixture studies (two-person DNA mixtures), PCR inhibitor studies (seven commonly encountered PCR inhibitors), species specificity studies (11 non-human species), and repeatability studies. Results of concordance studies (413 Han males and 6 human DNA standards) generated by STRait Razor and in-house Python scripts indicated 99.98% concordance rate in STR calling relative to CE for STRs between 41,900 genotypes at 100 STR markers. Moreover, the limitations of present studies, the nomenclature rules and forensic MPS applications were also described. In conclusion, the validation studies based on ~ 2200 MPS-based and ~ 2500 CE-based DNA profiles demonstrated that the novel MPS-based panel meets forensic DNA quality assurance guidelines with robust, reliable, and reproducible performance on samples of various quantities and qualities, and the STR nomenclature rules should be further regulated to integrate the inconformity between MPS-based and CE-based methods.

Martinon-Torres et al. (1) present a flawed reinterpretation of our work which demands correction. FY-HT-1 and FY-HT-2 were collected from the section walls of the 2011–2013 excavations; details of provenience were provided (2). All of the lingual and much of the occlusal and mesial surfaces of FY-HT-2’s enamel is missing (Fig. 1 A ). Therefore, reconstructions of “deer-like” wear (1) simply bear no resemblance to the preservational reality of the tooth. Also disconcerting is their comparison of FY-HT-2 with images of various deer incisors (Fig. 1 A and ref. 1). Confirmation bias aside, a proper comparison would have indicated affinities to recent humans (Fig. 1 A ), as confirmed by DNA analyses (2). Regarding FY-HT-1, its preservation is visually indistinct from existing samples (see ref. 3). But within-sample variation is clear, and expected, given nonuniform taphonomic processes within the context of a dynamic sedimentary history, as we have demonstrated at Fuyan Cave (2). Fig. 1. ( A ) Fuyan Cave tooth FY-TH-2 ( i ), a recent human from the Foyemiaowan Han Tomb ( ii ), and deer of Martinon-Torres et al. (1) ( iii ). Right column adapted with permission from ref. 1. ( B ) Number of sequences overlapping each position in the FY-HT-2 mitochondrial genome (coverage, Left ) and percentage of sequences carrying an identical base ( Right ). ( C ) Frequencies of nucleotide substitutions at the start and end positions of sequences from the FY-HT-2 library. Martinon-Torres et al. (1) and Higham and Douka (4) challenge our AMS 14C dating. We describe our accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) 14 … [↵][1]1To whom correspondence may be addressed. Email: darrencurnoe{at}icloud.com. [1]: #xref-corresp-1-1

The expansion of anatomically modern humans (AMHs) from Africa around 65,000 to 45,000 y ago (ca. 65 to 45 ka) led to the establishment of present-day non-African populations. Some paleoanthropologists have argued that fossil discoveries from Huanglong, Zhiren, Luna, and Fuyan caves in southern China indicate one or more prior dispersals, perhaps as early as ca. 120 ka. We investigated the age of the human remains from three of these localities and two additional early AMH sites (Yangjiapo and Sanyou caves, Hubei) by combining ancient DNA (aDNA) analysis with a multimethod geological dating strategy. Although U–Th dating of capping flowstones suggested they lie within the range ca. 168 to 70 ka, analyses of aDNA and direct AMS (14)C dating on human teeth from Fuyan and Yangjiapo caves showed they derive from the Holocene. OSL dating of sediments and AMS (14)C analysis of mammal teeth and charcoal also demonstrated major discrepancies from the flowstone ages; the difference between them being an order of magnitude or more at most of these localities. Our work highlights the surprisingly complex depositional history recorded at these subtropical caves which involved one or more episodes of erosion and redeposition or intrusion as recently as the late Holocene. In light of our findings, the first appearance datum for AMHs in southern China should probably lie within the timeframe set by molecular data of ca. 50 to 45 ka.

Due to the formation of the Qiongzhou Strait by climate change and marine transition, Hainan island isolated from the mainland southern China during the Last Glacial Maximum. Hainan island, located at the southernmost part of China and separated from the Leizhou Peninsula by the Qiongzhou Strait, laid on one of the modern human northward migration routes from Southeast Asia to East Asia. The Hlai-language speaking Li minority, the second largest population after Han Chinese in Hainan island, is the direct descendants of the initial migrants in Hainan island and has unique ethnic properties and derived characteristics, however, the forensic associated studies on Hainan Li population are still insufficient.Hence, 136 Hainan Li individuals were genotyped in this study using the MPS-based ForenSeq™DNA Signature Prep Kit (DNA Primer Set A) to characterize the forensic genetic polymorphism landscape, and DNA profiles were obtained from 152 different molecular genetic markers (27 autosomal STRs, 24 Y-STRs, 7 X-STRs, and 94 iiSNPs). A total of 419 distinct length variants and 586 repeat sequence sub-variants, with 31 novel alleles (at 17 loci), were identified across the 58 STR loci from the DNA profiles of Hainan Li population. We evaluated the forensic characteristics and efficiencies of DAPA, it demonstrated that the STRs and iiSNPs in DAPA were highly polymorphic in Hainan Li population and could be employed in forensic applications. In addition, we set up three Datasets, which included the genetic data of (I). iiSNPs (27 populations, 2640 individuals), (II). Y-STRs (42 populations, 8281 individuals), and (III). Y-haplogroups (123 populations, 4837 individuals) along with the population ancestries and language families, to perform population genetic analyses separately from different perspectives.In conclusion, the phylogenetic analyses indicated that Hainan Li, with a southern East Asia origin and Tai-Kadai language-speaking language, is an isolated population relatively. But the genetic pool of Hainan Li influenced by the limited gene flows from other Tai-Kadai populations and Hainan populations. Furthermore, the establishment of isolated population models will be beneficial to clarify the exquisite population structures and develop specific genetic markers for subpopulations in forensic genetic fields.

Hazara population across Durand-line has experienced extensive interaction with Central Asian and East Asian populations. Hazara individuals have typical Mongolian facial appearances and they called themselves descendants of Genghis Khan’s army. The people who speak the Balochi language are called Baloch. Previously, a worldwide analysis of Y-chromosomal haplotype diversity for rapidly mutating (RM) Y-STRs and with PowerPlex Y23 System (Promega Corporation Madison, USA) kit was created with collaborative efforts, but Baloch and Hazara population from Pakistan and Hazara population from Afghanistan were missing. A limited data with limited number of markers and samples is available which poorly define these populations. So, in the current study, Yfiler Plus PCR Amplification Kit loci were examined in 260 unrelated Hazara individuals from Afghanistan, 153 Hazara individuals, and 111 Balochi individuals from Baluchistan Pakistan. For the Hazara population from Afghanistan and Pakistan overall, 380 different haplotypes were observed on these 27 Y-STR loci, gene diversities ranged from 0.51288 (DYS389I) to 0.9257 (DYF387S1) and haplotype diversity was 0.9992 +/- 0.0004. For the Baloch population, every individual was unique at 27 Y-STR loci, gene diversity ranged from 0.5718 (DYS460) to 0.9371(DYF387S1). Twelve haplotypes shared between 178 individuals while only two haplotypes among these twelve were shared between 87 individuals in Hazara populations. Rst and Fst pairwise genetic distance analyses, multidimensional scaling (MDS) plot, Neighbor-joining (NJ) tree, linear discriminatory analysis (LDA), and median-joining network (MJNs) were performed, which shed light on the history of Hazara and Baloch populations. Interestingly null alleles were observed at DYS448 with specific mutation patterns in Hazara populations. The results of our study showed that the Yfiler Plus PCR Amplification Kit marker set provided substantially stronger discriminatory power in the Baloch population of Pakistan and the Hazara population across the Durand-line.

In this study, we designed a set of SARS‐CoV‐2 enrichment probes to increase the capacity for sequence‐based virus detection and obtain the comprehensive genome sequence at the same time. This universal SARS‐CoV‐2 enrichment probe set contains 502 120nt ssDNA biotin‐labeled probes designed based on all available SARS‐CoV‐2 viral sequences and it can be used to enrich for SARS‐CoV‐2 sequences without prior knowledge of type or subtype. Following the CDC health and safety guidelines, marked enrichment was demonstrated in a virus strain sample from a cell culture, three nasopharyngeal swab samples (cycle threshold [Ct] values: 32.36, 36.72, and 38.44) from patients diagnosed with COVID‐19 (positive control) and four throat swab samples from patients without COVID‐19 (negative controls), respectively. Moreover, based on these high‐quality sequences, we discuss the heterozygosity and viral expression during coronavirus replication, and its phylogenetic relationship with other selected high‐quality samples from The Genome Variation Map (GVM). Therefore, this universal SARS‐CoV‐2 enrichment probe system can capture and enrich SARS‐CoV‐2 viral sequences selectively and effectively in different samples, especially clinical swab samples with a relatively low concentration of viral particles. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

This manuscript is based on the method we developed urgently to deal with the research requirement in the conflict between achieving a complete genome sequence for the evolutionary history of SARS-CoV-2 study and the low viral RNA concentration. Here, in this manuscript, we developed a set of SARS-CoV-2 enrichment probes to increase the sensitivity of sequence-based virus detection and characterization via obtaining the comprehensive genome sequence. Following the CDC health and safety guidelines, we test the concept using the culturing supernatant contain SARS-CoV-2 particles, and its full-length sequence was used for further analysis. The fraction of SARS-CoV-2 endogenous DNA was 93.47% with Cluster Factor about 1.1, which demonstrate that the numbers of mapped reads to SARS-CoV-2 reference sequence significantly increased, compared to metagenomic sequencing technology, following SARS-CoV-2 probe enrichment. Moreover, based on the high-quality sequence, we discussed the heterozygosity and viral expression during replication of coronavirus, and its phylogenetic relationship with other selected high-quality samples from The Genome Variation Map (GVM) (on 2020/03/22). We believe this manuscript is valuable for all the researchers who are interested in using clinical warp samples to obtain the high coverage of SARS-CoV-2 genome sequence with a relatively low concentration of viral particles. This would allow the clinician to correlate the diagnostic data with molecular monitoring in viral evolutional, the most importantly, to track the functional mutation of SARS-CoV-2.

The expansion of modern humans to the American continent after the Last Glacial Maximum led the way to the present-day distribution of American aborigines. Recent advances in autosomal DNA research and expanded testing of mtDNA lineages has provided a clearer picture of the number and timing of founding lineages. However, both autosomal DNA and mtDNA research have provided unresolved competing theories between the short-term and the long-term models of the Beringian standstill hypothesis. Further, the source of founding paternal lineages of American aborigines and their relationship with ancient Siberia populations remains ambiguous. In this study, we reanalyzed a 7.0 Mbp region of 132 paternal Y-chromosome sequences, including 39 newly reported ones, of male samples from American aborigines and Eurasian populations. Among Eurasian samples, we identified Y-chromosome branches that are most closely related to known American aborigine founding lineages, that is, Q1-L804 links to Q1-M3, Q1-L330 links to Q1-Z780, Q1-M120 links to Q1-B143, and C2-F1756 links to C2-P39. The revised phylogenetic tree and age estimates indicate a narrow timeframe (~15.3–14.3 kya) for the upper time limit of human entry to the American continent. Our analysis suggests that the in situ differentiation of Q-M242 in Central Eurasia and South Siberia region gave rise to numerous sub-lineages older than 15.3 kya, and the founding of Paleo-Indian paternal lineages is part of the great Q1-L53 diffusion throughout the Eurasia after the Last Glacial Maximum. The results of our study will assist in future studies of the history of modern populations in Eurasia and the Americas.

Diffusion of Tibeto-Burman populations across the Tibetan Plateau led to the largest human community in a high-altitude environment and has long been a focus of research on high-altitude adaptation, archeology, genetics, and linguistics. However, much uncertainty remains regarding the origin, diversification, and expansion of Tibeto-Burman populations. In this study, we analyzed a 7.0M bp region of 285 Y-chromosome sequences, including 81 newly reported ones, from male samples from Tibeto-Burman populations and other related Eastern Asian populations. We identified several paternal lineages specific to Tibeto-Burman populations, and most of these lineages emerged between 6000 and 2500 years ago. A phylogenetic tree and lineage dating both support the hypothesis that the establishment of Tibeto-Burman ancestral groups was triggered by Neolithic expansions from the middle Yellow River Basin and admixtures with local populations on the Tibetan Plateau who survived the Paleolithic Age. Furthermore, according to the geographical distributions of the haplogroups, we propose that there are two Neolithic expansion origins for all modern Tibeto-Burman populations. Our research provides a clear scenario about the sources, admixture process and later diffusion process of the ancestor population of all Tibeto-Burman populations.

In kinship tests, the investigating of the forensic STRs usually provides decisive information to resolve relationship cases. We describe a parentage case with 3 genetic incompatibilities (D6S1043, D18S51 and D2S1338) between the child and alleged parent. With 90 STR loci and 100 SNP loci, the massively parallel sequencing (MPS)-based genotyping results support the certainty of parentage, and the mismatched alleles were considered to be mutations. MPS can provide additional allele sequence structures that can be used to infer the origins of the mutations. SNPs as supplementary markers can provide effective information to give an unequivocal statement of the parentage.

The Y-chromosome haplogroup C3*-Star Cluster (revised to C2*-ST in this study) was proposed to be the Y-profile of Genghis Khan. Here, we re-examined the origin of C2*-ST and its associations with Genghis Khan and Mongol populations. We analyzed 34 Y-chromosome sequences of haplogroup C2*-ST and its most closely related lineage. We redefined this paternal lineage as C2b1a3a1-F3796 and generated a highly revised phylogenetic tree of the haplogroup, including 36 sub-lineages and 265 non-private Y-chromosome variants. We performed a comprehensive analysis and age estimation of this lineage in eastern Eurasia, including 18,210 individuals from 292 populations. We discovered that the origin of populations with high frequencies of C2*-ST can be traced to either an ancient Niru'un Mongol clan or ordinary Mongol tribes. Importantly, the age of the most recent common ancestor of C2*-ST (2576 years, 95% CI = 1975-3178) and its sub-lineages, and their expansion patterns, are consistent with the diffusion of all Mongolic-speaking populations, rather than Genghis Khan himself or his close male relatives. We concluded that haplogroup C2*-ST is one of the founder paternal lineages of all Mongolic-speaking populations, and direct evidence of an association between C2*-ST and Genghis Khan has yet to be discovered.

Ancient DNA obtained from ancient samples, such as sediments, bones, and teeth, is an important genetic resource that can be used to reconstruct an evolutional history of humans, animals, and plants. The application of high-throughput sequencing enables the research of ancient DNA to be conducted in a whole genome scale. However, post-mortem DNA damage mainly caused by deamination of cytosine to uracil (or methylated cytosine to thymine) may confound the variant calling and downstream analysis. In this article, we develop a Python program to implement a new variant caller, "AntCaller", which extracts the information on nucleotide substitutions from sequencing data and calculates the probability of each genotype based on a Bayesian rule. Through both simulation studies and real data analyses, it was shown that our method reduced the false discovery rate caused by nucleotide misincorporations and outperformed two mainstream variant callers (i.e., GATK and SAMtools) in terms of calling accuracy. In a real application with serious DNA damage, AntCaller still outperformed GATK and SAMtools combined with quality score recalling.

// Tingting Kong 1, 2, 3 , Yahao Chen 4 , Yuxin Guo 1, 2, 5 , Yuanyuan Wei 1, 2 , Xiaoye Jin 1, 2, 5 , Tong Xie 3 , Yuling Mu 5 , Qian Dong 5 , Shaoqing Wen 6 , Boyan Zhou 6, 7 , Li Zhang 8 , Chunmei Shen 9 and Bofeng Zhu 1, 2, 3 1 Key Laboratory of Shaanxi Province for Craniofacial Precision Medicine Research, College of Stomatology, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, P. R. China 2 Clinical Research Center of Shaanxi Province for Dental and Maxillofacial Diseases, College of Stomatology, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, P. R. China 3 Department of Forensic Genetics, School of Forensic Medicine, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, P. R. China 4 Laboratory Medicine Center, The First Affiliated Hospital of Xinjiang Medical University, Urumqi, P. R. China 5 College of Medicine & Forensics, Xi’an Jiaotong University Health Science Center, Xi’an, P. R. China 6 State Key Laboratory of Genetic Engineering and MOE Key Laboratory of Contemporary Anthropology, School of Life Sciences and Institutes of Biomedical Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai, P. R. China 7 State Key Laboratory of Genetic Engineering and Institute of Biostatistics, School of Life Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai, P. R. China 8 Department of Gastroenterology, Second Affiliated Hospital of Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, P. R. China 9 Institute of Brain and Behavioral Sciences, College of Life Sciences, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi’an, P. R. China Correspondence to: Bofeng Zhu, email: zhubofeng7372@126.com Keywords: Kazak group, InDel, population genetics, interpopulation differentiation, phylogenetic tree Received: March 08, 2017 Accepted: April 12, 2017 Published: May 12, 2017 ABSTRACT In the present study, we assessed the genetic diversities of the Chinese Kazak ethnic group on the basis of 30 well-chosen autosomal insertion and deletion loci and explored the genetic relationships between Kazak and 23 reference groups. We detected the level of the expected heterozygosity ranging from 0.3605 at HLD39 locus to 0.5000 at HLD136 locus and the observed heterozygosity ranging from 0.3548 at HLD39 locus to 0.5283 at HLD136 locus. The combined power of discrimination and the combined power of exclusion for all 30 loci in the studied Kazak group were 0.999999999999128 and 0.9945, respectively. The dataset generated in this study indicated the panel of 30 InDels was highly efficient in forensic individual identifcation but may not have enough power in paternity cases. The results of the interpopulation differentiations, PCA plots, phylogenetic trees and STRUCTURE analyses showed a close genetic affiliation between the Kazak and Uigur group.

Aksay Kazakhs are the easternmost branch of Kazakhs, residing in Jiuquan city, the forefront of the ancient Silk Road. However, the genetic diversity of Aksay Kazakhs and its relationships with other Kazakhs still lack attention. To clarify this issue, we analyzed the non-recombining portion of the Y-chromosome from 93 Aksay Kazakhs samples, using a high-resolution analysis of 106 biallelic markers and 17 STRs. The lowest haplogroup diversity (0.38) was observed in Aksay Kazakhs among all studied Kazakh populations. The social and cultural traditions of the Kazakhs shaped their current pattern of genetic variation. Aksay Kazakhs tended to migrate with clans and had limited paternal admixture with neighboring populations. Aksay Kazakhs had the highest frequency (80%) of haplogroup C2b1a3a1-F3796 (previous C3*-Star Cluster) among the investigated Eurasian steppe populations, which was now seen as the genetic marker of Kerei clan. Furthermore, NETWORK analysis indicated that Aksay Kazakhs originated from sub-clan Kerei-Abakh in Kazakhstan with DYS448 = 23. TMRCA estimates of three recent descent clusters detected in C2*-M217 (xM48) network, one of which incorporate nearly all of the C2b1a3a1-F3796 Aksay Kazakhs samples, gave the age range of 976-1405 YA for DC1, 1059-1314 YA for DC2, and 1139-1317 YA for DC3, respectively; this is coherent with the 7

China has repeatedly been the subject of genetic studies to elucidate its prehistoric and historic demography. While some studies reported a genetic distinction between Northern and Southern Han Chinese, others showed a more clinal picture of small differences within China. Here, we investigated the distribution of Y chromosome variation along administrative as well as ethnic divisions in the mainland territory of the People's Republic of China, including 28 administrative regions and 19 recognized Chinese nationalities, to assess the impact of recent demographic processes. To this end, we analyzed 37,994 Y chromosomal 17-marker haplotype profiles from the YHRD database with respect to forensic diversity measures and genetic distance between groups defined by administrative boundaries and ethnic origin. We observed high diversity throughout all Chinese provinces and ethnicities. Some ethnicities, including most prominently Kazakhs and Tibetans, showed significant genetic differentiation from the Han and other groups. However, differences between provinces were, except for those located on the Tibetan plateau, less pronounced. This discrepancy is explicable by the sizeable presence of Han speakers, who showed high genetic homogeneity all across China, in nearly all studied provinces. Furthermore, we observed a continuous genetic North-South gradient in the Han, confirming previous reports of a clinal distribution of Y chromosome variation and being in notable concordance with the previously observed spatial distribution of autosomal variation. Our findings shed light on the demographic changes in China accrued by a fast-growing and increasingly mobile population.

Human Alcohol metabolic gene families ADH and ALDH mainly comprise ten genes, expressing in different organs and tissues. Two of the variants, ADH1B*47His and ALDH2*504Lys reach very high frequency in East Asia, while are almost absent in the rest of the world, which is believed to be results of positive selection related to the development of agriculture in Neolithic time. In addition to the ADH alcohol metabolic pathway, a microsomal ethanol oxidizing system involving the gene CYP2E1 has also been identified. The study on the micro-evolution of alcohol metabolic genes will help us understand how human adapted to the artificial environment of agriculture. We collected 1211 samples from 44 worldwide populations including 19 representative populations in East Asia, combined with 2504 samples of 26 populations from 1000 Genome project. We scanned all the 23 missense mutations or pathogenic SNPs in ADH and CYP2E1 pathways. Then we examined the selection signature on the genetic polymorphism in East Asia and estimated the allele ages. Our analyses revealed that the long-term farming ethnic groups in East Asia, such as Han, differed from the nomadic populations in the pattern of alcohol-related genetic polymorphism. This divergence was mainly attributed to the 6 closely related functional SNPs rs1229984 ( ADH1B ), rs671 ( ALDH2 ), rs8187929 ( ALDH1A1 ), rs2228093 ( ALDH1B1 ), rs3813867 ( CYP2E1 ), and rs2031920 ( CYP2E1 ). The derived core haplotypes of the new detected SNPs showed moderate to strong selection signals and the estimated allele ages coincided with the Neolithic time. The driving force tended to be the emergence and expansion of agriculture in East Asia.

The Neolithic transition, defined as the shift from a hunter-gatherer economy into the one based on agricultural activities, is assumed to have resulted in extensive human population growths. Despite major progress has been made by archaeologists in the use of archaeobotanic data to reconstruct a reliable time frame of Neolithic transition in China, the roles played by Neolithic transition in East Asian demographic history are not yet well understood. This paper offers a perspective on the issues regarding when and how the East Asian population expanded and its consequences. Considering diverse genetic evidences, we revealed that, in East Asia, there were at least two population expansion events in the Paleolithic Era and notably, the latter Paleolithic expansion and climate improvement after Last Glacial Maximum (LGM, about 15 ka) might together facilitate the emergence of agriculture. In comparison to the Paleolithic expansion, Neolithic expansion had its own characteristics, such as stronger expansion dynamics and sex-specific expansion pattern. According to the Y-chromosome-based tree in our recent studies, we found strong signals of partial paternal lineage expansions during or after the Neolithic transition, for instance, O3a2c1a-F5 (Oα), O3a2c1-F46 (Oβ), O3a1c1-F11 (Oγ), C3a1-F2613 (Cα), Q1a1-M120 (Qα), and O1a1a1-F78 (Oδ), suggesting the influence of a strong bottleneck caused by cultural changes. Finally, we discussed the relationship between major East Asian paternal lineages and linguistic families, as well as early archeology cultures, linking the Daxi culture to the modern Hmong-Mien populations, the Liangzhu Culture and/or Songze Culture to modern Austronesian and Daic populations, and Yangshao Culture, Dawenkou Culture and/or Longshan Culture, and Hongshan Culture to modern Sino-Tibetan populations.

Chinese Expeditionary Force (CEF) was one of the two Chinese military excursions outside of sovereign Chinese territory sent to repel Japanese forces occupying Burma during World War II. By 1941, the World War II entered its darkest days. China had been embroiled in a desperate struggle to resist the Japanese invasion. Japanese troops aiming at cutting the supply routes to China had left only one line of communication open for China to the West—the Yunnan-Burma Road in the southwest [1]. To co-operate with British troops’ anti-Japanese campaigns in Burma and defend China’s southwestern border areas, the CEF were detached to Burma twice to fight the Japanese forces. Eventually, as victorious counterattacks launched by the Chinese India Garrison Army and the CEF, the ChinaBurma-India transport route reopened, through which supplies from the international community arrived in China. Significantly, due to its location on this China’s ‘‘Anti-Japanese Lifeline’’, Myitkyina Battle was known as one of the bloodiest battles of the war [2]. This battle warmed up to the largest scale in Burma by Sino-US military cooperation, lasting three months during the monsoon weather. The Allied command totaled its casualties to a really high number: Chinese, 4,344; American, 2,207 [3]. The identification of soldiers lost in battle is of utmost importance to the Chinese Government and to the families and friends who must bear the burden of grief. During World War II and the Korean War, millions of Chinese soldiers were reported missing or dead in action. When bodies cannot be found or identified, families are left with the long-term pain of not knowing with certainty how or whether their loved ones have died. Therefore, intensive efforts by Chinese Government are ongoing to determine the fate of every Chinese soldier yet unaccounted for. As a consequence of these efforts, hundreds of remains have been recovered and returned to China. In the past fifteen years, DNA analysis has played a significant role in identifying victims of crimes, disasters, and wars. Y-chromosome is male specific and has a patrilineal inheritance mode. They are transmitted with no recombinations but mutations, making Y-STR and SNP quite useful in paternal lineage matching [4]. According to the identification of CEF remains by physical anthropologists and some written records in a personal reminiscence [5], the CEF soldiers involved in the Myitkyina Battle were mostly young people. And most of them were unmarried and childless. In this circumstance, Y chromosome may be quite useful in following the paternal lineages and seeking for their potential male paternal relatives [6]. Instead of using standard forensic means, we carried out an improved procedure (Doc. S1 online), which comprises extraction, purification, and amplification commonly used in ancient DNA studies, Y-filer STR typing, haplogroup prediction, and Y-SNP confirmation, to identify 27 CEF human specimens found in Myitkyina area, Myanmar (Fig. 1a). Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s11434-016-1017-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

The Y-chromosome haplogroup C2c1a1a1-M407 is a predominant paternal lineage in Mongolic-speaking populations, especially in Buryats and Kalmyks. However, the origin and internal phylogeny of C2c1a1a1-M407 have not been investigated in detail. In this study, we analyzed twenty-three Y-chromosome sequences of haplogroup C2c1a1a1-M407 and its most closely related clades. We generated a high-resolution phylogenetic tree of haplogroup C2c1a1a1-M407 and its upstream clade C2c1a1-CTS2657, including 32 subclades and 144 non-private Y-chromosome polymorphisms. We discover that all available C2c1a1a1-M407 samples from Mongolic-speaking populations belong to its newly defined downstream clade C2c1a1a1b-F8465, whereas all samples of C2c1a1-CTS2657(xF8465) come from northern Han Chinese, Korean, and Japanese. Furthermore, we observe that C2c1a1a1b-F8465 and its subclade C2c1a1a1b1-F8536 expanded at approximately 0.86 and 0.44 thousand years ago, respectively. Therefore, we conclude that C2c1a1a1-M407 in Mongolic-speaking populations has originated from northeastern Asia. C2c1a1a1b1-F8536, the newly defined subclade of C2c1a1a1-M407, probably represents the genetic relationships between ancient Oyrats, modern Kalmyks, Mongolians, and Buryats.

In previous studies, a specific paternal lineage with a null value for the Y-chromosome short tandem repeat (Y-STR) marker DYS448 was identified as common among Mongolic- and Turkic-speaking populations. This paternal lineage (temporarily named C3*-DYS448del) was determined to be M217+, M93–, P39–, M48–, M407–, and P53.1–, and its origin and phylogeny remain ambiguous. Here, we analyzed Y-chromosome sequences of 10 male that are related this paternal lineage and redefined it as C3b1a1a1a-F1756 (C3b-F1756). We generated a highly revised phylogenetic tree of haplogroup C3b-F1756, including 21 sub-clades and 360 non-private Y-chromosome polymorphisms. Additionally, we performed a comprehensive analysis of the C3*-DYS448del lineage in eastern Eurasia, including 18 270 samples from 297 populations. Whole Y-chromosome sequences, Y-STR haplotypes, and frequency data were used to generate a distribution map, a network, and age estimations for lineage C3*-DYS448del and its sub-lineages. Considering the historical records of the studied populations, we propose that two major sub-branches of C3b-F1756 may correspond to early expansions of ancestors of modern Mongolic- and Turkic-speaking populations. The large number of newly defined Y-chromosome polymorphisms and the revised phylogenetic tree for C3b-F1756 will assist in investigation of the early history of Altaic-speaking populations in the future.

According to historical records, ethnic Hui in China obtained substantial genetic components from western Eurasian populations during their Islamization. However, some scholars believed that the ancestry of Hui people were native Chinese populations. In this context, the formation of Hui is due to simple cultural diffusion rather than demic diffusion. In this study, we examined the forensic and population genetic application of the 30 InDel loci in Hui population from Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, Northwest China. Genotype analysis of 129 unrelated individuals revealed that all loci were in the Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium in Ningxia Hui. Forensic indices calculated from genotypes demonstrated that this panel, Qiagen DIPplex ® Investigator kit, was powerful enough to be used in individual identification but not in paternity cases. Through population genetic analysis, we found that Ningxia Hui received much more genetic contributions from East Asian populations than those from western Eurasian populations. Finally, we statistically identified the admixture signal of eastern and western Eurasians, although the latter is weak, in Ningxia Hui via the three-population test. All this evidence suggested that the formation of Ningxia Hui was mainly attributed to the cultural transformation of local Chinese residents with minor gene flow from western Eurasian populations.