Contrasting maternal and paternal genetic variation of hunter-gatherer groups in Thailand

Abstract

The Maniq and Mlabri are the only recorded nomadic hunter-gatherer groups in Thailand.Here, we sequenced complete mitochondrial (mt) DNA genomes and ~2.364 Mbp of nonrecombining Y chromosome (NRY) to learn more about the origins of these two enigmatic populations. Both groups exhibited low genetic diversity compared to other Thai populations, and contrasting patterns of mtDNA and NRY diversity: there was greater mtDNA diversity in the Maniq than in the Mlabri, while the converse was true for the NRY. We found basal uniparental lineages in the Maniq, namely mtDNA haplogroups M21a, R21 and M17a, and NRY haplogroup

Reconstructing the human genetic history of mainland Southeast Asia: insights from genome-wide data from Thailand and Laos

“…The Mlabri, Htin, Khmu, Soa and Bru all migrated from Laos about 100-200 years ago (Schliesinger, 2000), thus close relatedness among them might reflect gene flow among various groups in Laos before their independent migrations to Thailand. However, the Mlabri stand out among these groups in exhibiting extremely high levels of within-group IBD sharing ( Supplementary Figure 7), indicating strong genetic drift and isolation, consistent with previous investigations of mtDNA, Y chromosome, and autosomal diversity (Oota et al, 2005;Xu et al, 2010;Kutanan et al, 2018a).…”

“…Mlabri shows genetic relationships with the Katuic-speaking Soa and Bru from northeastern Thailand (Kutanan et al, 2018a). Our present results also support genetic relatedness among Mlabri, Htin (Mal and Pray), Khmu, Soa and Bru within the Khmu_Katu_AA group ( Figure 2B; Supplementary Figures 5-6).…”

“…This population structure and history remains largely unexplored by genetic studies, which have almost exclusively analyzed autosomal short tandem repeat (STR) loci, and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and male specific Y chromosome (MSY) sequences. These studies revealed the relative genetic heterogeneity of the AA groups and homogeneity of TK groups (Kampuansai et al, 2017(Kampuansai et al, , 2020Kutanan et al, 2014Kutanan et al, , 2017Kutanan et al, , 2019Srithawong et al, 2015Srithawong et al, , 2020 and contrasting male and female genetic histories in the region, especially for the matrilocal vs. patrilocal hill tribes (Oota et al, 2001;Kutanan et al, 2018aKutanan et al, , 2019Kutanan et al, , 2020. While genome-wide data provide much richer insights into population structure and genetic history, previous genome-wide studies of Thai/Lao populations are either primarily from northern populations (HUGO Pan-Asian SNP Consortium, 2009;Xu et al, 2010;Lipson et al, 2018) or do not provide any information on ethnolinguistic background (Wangkumhang et al, 2013;Lazaridis et al, 2014).…”

Munda languages are father tongues, but Japanese and Korean are not

“…A major male-specific expansion involving Y-chromosomal haplogroup O1b1a1a (M95) took place in the Neolithic period between 5000 and 4000 years ago, reflected in modern Austroasiatic language communities. A second major male-specific expansion transpired during the Bronze and Iron Age between 2500 and 2000 years ago, involving Y-chromosomal haplogroup O2a (M324), seen in modern Kradai language communities in this region (Kutanan et al 2018a(Kutanan et al , b, 2019.…”

Y-chromosome target enrichment reveals rapid expansion of haplogroup R1b-DF27 in Iberia during the Bronze Age transition

“…Previous studies have highlighted the potential of applying target enrichment techniques to obtain Y-chromosome sequences in different scenarios: in cases in which the objective is to increment the number of modern Y-chromosome samples in population genetics studies 8 , or where Y-chromosome information is difficult to retrieve because of molecular damage, as in ancient DNA 9,10 . We have designed probes to capture the 8.9 Mb of the Y-chromosome callable region or target region (TR).…”