Open AccessThe history and evolution of the Denisovan- EPAS1 haplotype in Tibetans
Author(s) -
Xinjun Zhang,
Kelsey E. Witt,
Mayra M Bañuelos,
Amy J. Ko,
Kai Yuan,
Shuhua Xu,
Rasmus Nielsen,
Emilia HuertaSánchez
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
proceedings of the national academy of sciences of the united states of america
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1091-6490
pISSN - 0027-8424
DOI - 10.1073/pnas.2020803118
Subject(s) - introgression , biology , evolutionary biology , haplotype , population , genetics , gene , genotype , demography , sociology
Significance The discovery of the archaic Denisovan hominins is one of the most significant findings in human evolutionary biology in the last decade. However, as of today, we have more questions than answers regarding this mysterious hominin group. This study leverages the information from the well-known example of adaptive introgression on theEPAS1 gene in Tibetans, to gain insight on the history of our species’ interaction with Denisovans. We show that the Tibetan-EPAS1 haplotype came from the East Asian-specific Denisovan introgression event, and it remained selectively neutral for a long time in the population before positive selection occurred, which may be concurrent with the permanent inhabitation of the Tibetan Plateau after the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM).