Mapping human genetic diversity in Asia.

HUGO Pan-Asian SNP Consortium, Abdulla MA, Ahmed I, Assawamakin A, Bhak J, Brahmachari SK, Calacal GC, Chaurasia A, Chen CH, Chen J, Chen YT,Chu J, Cutiongco-de la Paz EM, De Ungria MC, Delfin FC, Edo J, Fuchareon S, Ghang H, Gojobori T, Han J, Ho SF, Hoh BP, Huang W, Inoko H, Jha P, Jinam TA, Jin L, Jung J, Kangwanpong D,Kampuansai J, Kennedy GC, Khurana P, Kim HL, Kim K, Kim S, Kim WY, Kimm K, Kimura R, Koike T, Kulawonganunchai S, Kumar V, Lai PS, Lee JY, Lee S, Liu ET, Majumder PP,Mandapati KK, Marzuki S, Mitchell W, Mukerji M, Naritomi K, Ngamphiw C, Niikawa N, Nishida N, Oh B, Oh S, Ohashi J, Oka A, Ong R, Padilla CD, Palittapongarnpim P, Perdigon HB, Phipps ME, Png E, Sakaki Y, Salvador JM, Sandraling Y, Scaria V, Seielstad M,Sidek MR, Sinha A, Srikummool M, Sudoyo H, Sugano S, Suryadi H, Suzuki Y, Tabbada KA, Tan A, Tokunaga K, Tongsima S, Villamor LP, Wang E, Wang Y,Wang H, Wu JY, Xiao H, Xu S, Yang JO, Shugart YY, Yoo HS, Yuan W, Zhao G, Zilfalil BA; Indian Genome Variation Consortium.

 

Abstract

Asia harbors substantial cultural and linguistic diversity, but the geographic structure of genetic variation across the continent remains enigmatic. Here we report a large-scale survey of autosomal variation from a broad geographic sample of Asian human populations. Our results show that genetic ancestry is strongly correlated with linguistic affiliations as well as geography. Most populations show relatedness within ethnic/linguistic groups, despite prevalent gene flow among populations. More than 90% of East Asian (EA) haplotypes could be found in either Southeast Asian (SEA) or Central-South Asian (CSA) populations and show clinal structure with haplotype diversity decreasing from south to north. Furthermore, 50% of EA haplotypes were found in SEA only and 5% were found in CSA only, indicating that SEA was a major geographic source of EA populations.