Evidence that a West-East admixed population lived in the Tarim Basin as early as the early Bronze Age

BackgroundThe Tarim Basin, located on the ancient Silk Road, played a very important role in the history of human migration and cultural communications between the West and the East. However, both the exact period at which the relevant events occurred and the origins of the people in the area remain very obscure. In this paper, we present data from the analyses of both Y chromosomal and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) derived from human remains excavated from the Xiaohe cemetery, the oldest archeological site with human remains discovered in the Tarim Basin thus far.ResultsMitochondrial DNA analysis showed that the Xiaohe people carried both the East Eurasian haplogroup (C) and the West Eurasian haplogroups (H and K), whereas Y chromosomal DNA analysis revealed only the West Eurasian haplogroup R1a1a in the male individuals.ConclusionOur results demonstrated that the Xiaohe people were an admixture from populations originating from both the West and the East, implying that the Tarim Basin had been occupied by an admixed population since the early Bronze Age. To our knowledge, this is the earliest genetic evidence of an admixed population settled in the Tarim Basin.

[1]  J. Dudar,et al.  Technical note: improved DNA extraction from ancient bones using silica-based spin columns. , 1998, American journal of physical anthropology.

[2]  C. Lalueza-Fox,et al.  Unravelling migrations in the steppe: mitochondrial DNA sequences from ancient Central Asians , 2004, Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences.

[3]  I. Shimada,et al.  Mitochondrial DNA analysis of ancient Peruvian highlanders. , 2006, American journal of physical anthropology.

[4]  R. Villems,et al.  Two sources of the Russian patrilineal heritage in their Eurasian context. , 2008, American journal of human genetics.

[5]  R. J. Herrera,et al.  Separating the post-Glacial coancestry of European and Asian Y chromosomes within haplogroup R1a , 2010, European Journal of Human Genetics.

[6]  Shuichi Matsumura,et al.  Ancient DNA from the First European Farmers in 7500-Year-Old Neolithic Sites , 1975, Science.

[7]  S. Pääbo,et al.  Genetic analyses from ancient DNA. , 2004, Annual review of genetics.

[8]  K. Darvishi,et al.  The Indian origin of paternal haplogroup R1a1* substantiates the autochthonous origin of Brahmins and the caste system , 2009, Journal of Human Genetics.

[9]  F. Bamforth,et al.  Population affinities of Neolithic Siberians: a snapshot from prehistoric Lake Baikal. , 2006, American journal of physical anthropology.

[10]  F. Ricaut,et al.  Ancient DNA analysis of human neolithic remains found in northeastern Siberia. , 2005, American journal of physical anthropology.

[11]  J V Neel,et al.  Asian affinities and continental radiation of the four founding Native American mtDNAs. , 1993, American journal of human genetics.

[12]  H. Poinar,et al.  Ancient DNA: Do It Right or Not at All , 2000, Science.

[13]  B. Malyarchuk,et al.  Mitochondrial DNA phylogeny in Eastern and Western Slavs. , 2008, Molecular biology and evolution.

[14]  M. Zeviani,et al.  The molecular dissection of mtDNA haplogroup H confirms that the Franco-Cantabrian glacial refuge was a major source for the European gene pool. , 2004, American journal of human genetics.

[15]  J. Castro,et al.  Mitochondrial DNA sequence variation in Jewish populations , 2006, International Journal of Legal Medicine.

[16]  V. Mair.  The Rediscovery and Complete Excavation of Ördek's Necropolis , 2006 .

[17]  Hui Zhou,et al.  Tracing the genetic history of the Chinese people: mitochondrial DNA analysis of aneolithic population from the Lajia site. , 2007, American journal of physical anthropology.

[18]  J. Bertranpetit,et al.  Geographic patterns of mtDNA diversity in Europe. , 2000, American journal of human genetics.

[19]  R. Villems,et al.  mtDNA haplogroups and frequency patterns in Europe. , 2000, American journal of human genetics.

[20]  Peter A Underhill,et al.  New binary polymorphisms reshape and increase resolution of the human Y chromosomal haplogroup tree. , 2008, Genome research.

[21]  M. Dixon,et al.  Deep common ancestry of Indian and western-Eurasian mitochondrial DNA lineages , 1999, Current Biology.

[22]  Lothar von Falkenhausen,et al.  The Bronze Age and Early Iron Age Peoples of Eastern Central Asia: Volume II: Genetics and Physical Anthropology, Metallurgy, Textiles, Geography and Climatology, History, and Mythology and Ethnology , 1999 .

[23]  A. Torroni,et al.  The emerging tree of West Eurasian mtDNAs: a synthesis of control-region sequences and RFLPs. , 1999, American journal of human genetics.

[24]  Q. Kong,et al.  Mitochondrial DNA sequence polymorphisms of five ethnic populations from northern China , 2003, Human Genetics.

[25]  E. Willerslev,et al.  Review Paper. Ancient DNA , 2005, Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences.

[26]  L. Koryakova,et al.  The Urals and Western Siberia in the Bronze and Iron Ages: Frontmatter , 2007 .

[27]  Chun Xing Li,et al.  Evidence of ancient DNA reveals the first European lineage in Iron Age Central China , 2007, Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences.

[28]  R. Sukernik,et al.  mtDNA variation of aboriginal Siberians reveals distinct genetic affinities with Native Americans. , 1993, American journal of human genetics.

[29]  Manfred Kayser,et al.  Updated comprehensive phylogenetic tree of global human mitochondrial DNA variation , 2009, Human mutation.

[30]  L L Cavalli-Sforza,et al.  The genetic legacy of Paleolithic Homo sapiens sapiens in extant Europeans: a Y chromosome perspective. , 2000, Nature Reviews Genetics.

[31]  Eric Crubézy,et al.  Ancient DNA provides new insights into the history of south Siberian Kurgan people , 2009, Human Genetics.

[32]  A. Di Rienzo,et al.  Tracing European founder lineages in the Near Eastern mtDNA pool. , 2000, American journal of human genetics.

[33]  E. Starikovskaya,et al.  Mitochondrial DNA Diversity in Indigenous Populations of the Southern Extent of Siberia, and the Origins of Native American Haplogroups , 2005, Annals of human genetics.

[34]  Hans-Jürgen Bandelt,et al.  The emerging limbs and twigs of the East Asian mtDNA tree. , 2002, Molecular biology and evolution.

[35]  J. Mallory,et al.  Horse-mounted invaders from the Russo-Kazakh steppe or agricultural colonists from western Central Asia? A craniometric investigation of the Bronze Age settlement of Xinjiang. , 2004, American journal of physical anthropology.

[36]  D. Gurwitz,et al.  The matrilineal ancestry of Ashkenazi Jewry: portrait of a recent founder event. , 2006, American journal of human genetics.

[37]  A. Pérez-Lezaun,et al.  Trading genes along the silk road: mtDNA sequences and the origin of central Asian populations. , 1998, American journal of human genetics.

[38]  E. Bermingham,et al.  Mitochondrial DNA analysis of Mongolian populations and implications for the origin of New World founders. , 1996, Genetics.

[39]  Q. Kong,et al.  Different matrilineal contributions to genetic structure of ethnic groups in the silk road region in china. , 2004, Molecular biology and evolution.

[40]  BMC Biology , 2004 .

[41]  C. Lalueza-Fox,et al.  Tracking down human contamination in ancient human teeth. , 2006, Molecular biology and evolution.

[42]  D. Comas,et al.  Admixture, migrations, and dispersals in Central Asia: evidence from maternal DNA lineages , 2004, European Journal of Human Genetics.

[43]  B. Ludes,et al.  Nuclear and mitochondrial DNA analysis of a 2,000-year-old necropolis in the Egyin Gol Valley of Mongolia. , 2003, American journal of human genetics.