Premium
Extreme mtDNA homogeneity in continental Asian populations
Author(s) -
Oota Hiroki,
Kitano Takashi,
Jin Feng,
Yuasa Isao,
Wang Li,
Ueda Shintaroh,
Saitou Naruya,
Stoneking Mark
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
american journal of physical anthropology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.146
H-Index - 119
eISSN - 1096-8644
pISSN - 0002-9483
DOI - 10.1002/ajpa.10056
Subject(s) - mitochondrial dna , biology , evolutionary biology , vietnamese , genetics , genetic variation , south asia , gene , history , linguistics , philosophy , ethnology
Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) variation in continental Asia has not been well‐studied. Here, we report mtDNA HV1 sequences for 84 Xi'an and 82 Changsha Han Chinese, 89 Honshu Japanese, and 35 Vietnamese. Comparison of these sequences with other Asian mtDNA sequences reveals high variability within populations, but extremely low differentiation among Asian populations. Correlations between genetic distance and geographic distance, based on mtDNA and Y chromosome variation, indicate a higher migration rate in females than in males. This may reflect patrilocality, as suggested previously, but another plausible hypothesis is that the demographic expansion associated with the spread of agriculture in Asia may be responsible for the extreme genetic homogeneity in Asia. Am J Phys Anthropol 118:146–153, 2002. © 2002 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.