Insights From Y-STRs: Forensic Characteristics, Genetic Affinities, and Linguistic Classifications of Guangdong Hakka and She Groups

Abstract

Guangdong province is situated in the south of China with a population size of 113.46 million. Hakka is officially recognized as a branch of Han Chinese, and She is the official minority group in mainland China. There are approximately 25 million Hakka people who mainly live in the East and North regions of China, while there are only 0.7 million She people. The genetic characterization and forensic parameters of these two groups are poorly defined (She) or still need to be explored (Hakka). In this study, we have genotyped 475 unrelated Guangdong males (260 Hakka and 215 She) with Promega PowerPlex® Y23 System. A total of 176 and 155 different alleles were observed across all 23 Y-STRs for Guangdong Hakka (with a range of allele frequencies from 0.0038 to 0.7423) and Guangdong She (0.0047–0.8605), respectively. The gene diversity ranged from 0.4877 to 0.9671 (Guangdong Hakka) and 0.3277–0.9526 (Guangdong She), while the haplotype diversities were 0.9994 and 0.9939 for Guangdong Hakka and Guangdong She, with discrimination capacity values of 0.8885 and 0.5674, respectively. With reference to geographical and linguistic scales, the phylogenetic analyses showed us that Guangdong Hakka has a close relationship with Southern Han, and the genetic pool of Guangdong Hakka was influenced by surrounding Han populations. The predominant haplogroups of the Guangdong She group were O2-M122 and O2a2a1a2-M7, while Guangdong She clustered with other Tibeto-Burman language-speaking populations (Guizhou Tujia and Hunan Tujia), which shows us that the Guangdong She group is one of the branches of Tibeto-Burman populations and the Huonie dialect of She languages may be a branch of Tibeto-Burman language families.

Y-STR Haplotypic Polymorphisms for the Hakka Population in West China and Phylogenic Comparison with Other Chinese Populations

“…This does not mean that the genetic affinity between Cantonese and Guangdong Hakka is nonexistent; on the contrary, the national fusion may be more significant, especially in modern Chinese history. As expected, another phylogenetic analysis via Y-STR shows that Guangdong Hakka have a close relationship with southern Han regarding geographical and linguistic scales (Luo et al 2021). In contrast, Dongshan Hakka in our study seem to retain a relatively isolated genetic background.…”

Systematic Evaluation of a Novel 6-dye Direct and Multiplex PCR-CE-Based InDel Typing System for Forensic Purposes

“…In general, from the perspective of population genetic analyses, compared with paternal Y-STR genetic markers ( Fan et al, 2018a ; Fan et al, 2018c ; Liu et al, 2020b ; Ding et al, 2020 ; Fan et al, 2021b ; Fan et al, 2021c ; Luo et al, 2021 ), the novel 6-dye direct and multiplex PCR-CE-based typing system also possessed the ability to differentiate intercontinental populations to a certain extent. The UAIS enabled to make the relatively clear distinctions among populations from five intercontinental ancestries, and the Hainan Li group had the close genetic relationships with EAS populations.…”

Prevalence and Associated Factors of Malocclusion among Preschool Children in Huizhou, China: A Cross-Sectional Study

“…This population speaks the Hakka dialect, which belongs to the Sino-Tibetan family, and prefers Hakka cuisine, which can be characterized as salty, fragrant, and umami and tends to be hearty and heavy [ 28 , 29 ]. Meizhou, Heyuan, Shaoguan, Qingyuan, Hong Kong, and Macau are large Hakka settlements with a population of over 50 million [ 30 ]. Hakka people are also scattered in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and other overseas countries [ 27 ].…”