Early Eurasian migration traces in the Tarim Basin revealed by mtDNA polymorphis

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Early Eurasian migration traces in the Tarim Basin revealed by mtDNA polymorphisms
Yinqiu Cui 1 2, Chunxiang Li 2, Shizhu Gao 3, Chengzhi Xie 2, Hui Zhou 1 2 *
1Research Center for Chinese Frontier Archaeology, Jilin University, Changchun 130012, People's Republic of China
2College of Life Science, Jilin University, Changchun 130023, People's Republic of China
3College of Pharmacia Sciences, Jilin University, Changchun 130021, People's Republic of China
email: Hui Zhou (zhouhui@jlu.edu.cn)
*Correspondence to Hui Zhou, Research Center for Chinese Frontier Archaeology, Jilin University, Changchun 130012, People's Republic of China

Funded by:
 National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC); Grant Number: 30871349, J0530184

KEYWORDS
migration history • mtDNA haplogroup • genetic structure • Tarim Basin
ABSTRACT
The mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) polymorphisms of 58 samples from the Daheyan village located in the central Taklamakan Desert of the Tarim Basin were determined in this study. Among the 58 samples, 29 haplotypes belonging to 18 different haplogroups were analyzed. Almost all the mtDNAs belong to a subset of either the defined Western or Eastern Eurasian pool. Extensive Eastern Eurasian lineages exist in the Daheyan population in which Northern-prevalent haplogroups present higher frequencies. In the limited existing Western Eurasian lineages, two sub-haplogroups, U3 and X2, that are rare in Central Asia were found in this study, which may be indicative of the remnants of an early immigrant population from the Near East and Caucasus regions preserved only in the Tarim Basin. The presence of U3 in modern and archeological samples in the Tarim Basin suggests that the immigration took place earlier than 2,000 years ago and points to human continuity in this area, with at least one Western lineage originating from the Near East and Caucasus regions. Am J Phys Anthropol, 2010. © 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/123246560/abstract?CRETRY=1&SRETRY=0