Shengjie Nie

Revisiting the male genetic landscape of China: a multi-center study of almost 38,000 Y-STR haplotypes

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.

Genetic analysis of 20 autosomal STR loci in the Miao ethnic group from Yunnan Province, Southwest China

The genetic polymorphisms of 20 autosomal short tandem repeat (STR) loci included in the PowerPlex® 21 kit were evaluated from 748 unrelated healthy individuals of the Miao ethnic minority living in the Yunnan province in southwestern China. All of the loci reached Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. These loci were examined to determine allele frequencies and forensic statistical parameters. The genetic relationship between the Miao population and other Chinese populations were also estimated. The combined discrimination power and probability of excluding paternity of the 20 STR loci were 0.999 999 999 999 999 999 999 991 26 and 0.999 999 975, respectively. The results suggested that the 20 STR loci were highly polymorphic, which makes them suitable for forensic personal identification and paternity testing.

Population data of 23 autosomal STR loci in the Chinese Han population from Guangdong Province in southern China

The genetic polymorphisms of 23 autosomal short tandem repeat (STR) loci included in the HuaxiaTM Platinum kit were evaluated in 1533 unrelated healthy Guangdong Han individuals living in the Guangdong Province in southern China. All of the loci reached the Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium. These loci were examined to determine the allele frequencies and forensic statistical parameters. The genetic relationship between the Guangdong Han and other Chinese populations was also estimated. The combined discrimination power and the probability of excluding the paternity of 23 STR loci were 0.999 999 999 999 999 999 999 999 999 74 and 0.999 999 999 72, respectively. These results suggested that the 23 STR loci are highly polymorphic and suitable for personal forensic identification and paternity testing.

Genetic polymorphisms of 20 autosomal STR loci in the Vietnamese population from Yunnan Province, Southwest China

The genetic polymorphisms of 20 autosomal short tandem repeat (STR) loci included in the PowerPlex® 21 kit were evaluated in 522 healthy unrelated Vietnamese from Yunnan, China. All of the loci reached the Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium. These loci were examined to determine allele frequencies and forensic statistical parameters. The combined discrimination power and probability of excluding paternity of the 20 STR loci were 0.999999999999999999999991 26 and 0.999999975, respectively. Results suggested that the 20 STR loci are highly polymorphic, which is suitable for forensic personal identification and paternity testing.

Population data for 20 autosomal STR loci in the Yi ethnic minority from Yunnan Province, Southwest China

The genetic polymorphisms of 20 autosomal short tandem repeat (STR) loci included in the PowerPlex® 21 kit were evaluated from 559 unrelated healthy individuals of the Yi ethnic minority living in the Yunnan province in southwest China. All of the loci reached the Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium. These loci were examined to determine allele frequencies and forensic statistical parameters. The genetic relationship between the Yi population and other Chinese populations were also estimated. The combined discrimination power and probability of excluding paternity of the 20 STR loci are 0.999 999 999 999 999 999 999 999 05 and 0.999 999 991, respectively. These results suggest that the 20 STR loci are highly polymorphic, which is suitable for forensic personal identification and paternity testing.

Genetic analysis of 24 Y-STR loci in the Miao ethnic minority from Yunnan Province, southwestern China

In the present study, 24 Y-chromosomal short tandem repeat (Y-STR) loci were analyzed in 252 unrelated Miao male individuals from Pingbian county, Honghe Hani and Yi Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan province, southwestern China. The gene diversity of the 24 Y-STR loci in the studied group ranged from 0.2683 (DYS391) to 0.9312 (DYS527a/b). According to haplotypic analysis of the 24 Y-STR loci, 214 different haplotypes were obtained, 186 of which were unique. The overall haplotype diversity and discrimination capacity were calculated to be 0.9983 and 0.8492, respectively. In addition, three different triplications were observed at the DYS527a/b marker, and 1 intermediate allele and six single off-ladder alleles were observed at four markers. We analyzed interpopulation differentiations by making comparisons between the Yunnan Miao ethnic minority and 18 other ethnic groups. The results obtained using pairwise genetic distances, multidimensional scaling plot, and neighbor-joining tree at the same set of 17 Y-filer loci indicated that Yunnan Miao had a closer genetic relationship with Yunnan Han and Hunan Miao individuals. The present results may provide useful information for paternal lineages in forensic cases and can also increase our understanding of the genetic relationship between Miao individuals and other groups.

Forensic features for Yunnan Lisu ethnic minority and phylogenetic structure exploration among 26 Chinese populations

The genetic polymorphisms of 15 autosomal short tandem repeat (STR) loci included in the AmpFlSTR®Sinofiler™ kit were evaluated from 508 unrelated healthy individuals of the Lisu ethnic minority living in Chuxiong Yi Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan province, southwest of China. Fourteen of the 15 loci reached the Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium after Bonferroni correction. These loci were examined to determine allele frequencies and forensic statistical parameters. The genetic relationship between the Lisu population and other Chinese populations were also estimated. The combined discrimination power and probability of excluding paternity of the 15 STR loci were 0.999 999 999 999 999 999 654 and 0.999 998 882, respectively. These results suggest that the 15 STR loci are highly polymorphic, which is suitable for forensic personal identification and paternity testing.