Distinguished biological adaptation architecture aggravated population differentiation of Tibeto-Burman-speaking people

Yuntao Sun; Mengge Wang; Qiuxia Sun; Yan Liu; Shuhan Duan; Zhiyong Wang; Yunyu Zhou; Jun Zhong; Yuguo Huang; Xinyu Huang; Qingxin Yang; Xiangping Li; Haoran Su; Yan Cai; Xiucheng Jiang; Jing Chen; Jiangwei Yan; Shengjie Nie; Liping Hu; Junbao Yang; Renkuan Tang; Chuan-Chao Wang; Chao Liu; Xiaohui Deng; Libing Yun; Guanglin He

doi:10.1016/j.jgg.2023.10.002

Distinguished biological adaptation architecture aggravated population differentiation of Tibeto-Burman-speaking people

J Genet Genomics. 2023 Oct 11:S1673-8527(23)00210-2. doi: 10.1016/j.jgg.2023.10.002. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Yuntao Sun¹, Mengge Wang², Qiuxia Sun³, Yan Liu⁴, Shuhan Duan⁵, Zhiyong Wang⁶, Yunyu Zhou⁷, Jun Zhong⁸, Yuguo Huang⁹, Xinyu Huang¹⁰, Qingxin Yang¹¹, Xiangping Li⁶, Haoran Su⁵, Yan Cai¹², Xiucheng Jiang⁵, Jing Chen¹³, Jiangwei Yan¹⁴, Shengjie Nie¹¹, Liping Hu¹¹, Junbao Yang¹⁵, Renkuan Tang¹⁶, Chuan-Chao Wang¹⁷, Chao Liu¹⁸, Xiaohui Deng¹⁹, Libing Yun²⁰, Guanglin He²¹

Affiliations

¹ West China School of Basic Science & Forensic Medicine, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan 610041, China; Institute of Rare Diseases, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan 610000, China; Center for Archaeological Science, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan 610000, China.
² Institute of Rare Diseases, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan 610000, China; Center for Archaeological Science, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan 610000, China; Faculty of Forensic Medicine, Zhongshan School of Medicine, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510275, China; Guangzhou Forensic Science Institute, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510055, China. Electronic address: Menggewang2021@163.com.
³ Institute of Rare Diseases, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan 610000, China; Department of Forensic Medicine, College of Basic Medicine, Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, 400331, China.
⁴ Institute of Rare Diseases, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan 610000, China; School of Clinical Medical Sciences, North Sichuan Medical College, Nanchong, Sichuan 637100, China.
⁵ Institute of Rare Diseases, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan 610000, China; School of Basic Medical Sciences, North Sichuan Medical College, Nanchong, Sichuan 637100, China.
⁶ Institute of Rare Diseases, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan 610000, China; School of Forensic Medicine, Kunming Medical University, Kunming, Yunnan 650500, China.
⁷ School of Stomatology, North Sichuan Medical College, Nanchong, Sichuan 637100, China.
⁸ School of Basic Medical Sciences, North Sichuan Medical College, Nanchong, Sichuan 637100, China.
⁹ Institute of Rare Diseases, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan 610000, China.
¹⁰ West China School of Basic Science & Forensic Medicine, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan 610041, China.
¹¹ School of Forensic Medicine, Kunming Medical University, Kunming, Yunnan 650500, China.
¹² School of Basic Medical Sciences, North Sichuan Medical College, Nanchong, Sichuan 637100, China; Department of Medical Laboratory, North Sichuan Medical College, Nanchong, Sichuan 637007, China.
¹³ Institute of Rare Diseases, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan 610000, China; School of Forensic Medicine, Shanxi Medical University, Jinzhong, Sichuan 030001, China.
¹⁴ School of Forensic Medicine, Shanxi Medical University, Jinzhong, Sichuan 030001, China.
¹⁵ School of Clinical Medical Sciences, North Sichuan Medical College, Nanchong, Sichuan 637100, China.
¹⁶ Department of Forensic Medicine, College of Basic Medicine, Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, 400331, China.
¹⁷ School of Life Sciences, Xiamen University, Xiamen, Fujian 361005, China.
¹⁸ Anti-Drug Technology Center of Guangdong Province, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510230, China.
¹⁹ West China School of Basic Science & Forensic Medicine, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan 610041, China. Electronic address: dengxhhappy@126.com.
²⁰ West China School of Basic Science & Forensic Medicine, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan 610041, China; Center for Archaeological Science, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan 610000, China. Electronic address: yunlibing@scu.edu.cn.
²¹ Institute of Rare Diseases, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan 610000, China; Center for Archaeological Science, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan 610000, China. Electronic address: guanglinhescu@163.com.

PMID: 37827489
DOI: 10.1016/j.jgg.2023.10.002

Abstract

Tibeto-Burman (TB) people have endeavored to adapt to the hypoxic, cold, and high-UV high-altitude environments in the Tibetan Plateau and complex disease exposures in lowland rainforests since the late Paleolithic period. However, the full landscape of genetic history and biological adaptation of geographically diverse TB-speaking people, as well as their interaction mechanism, remain unknown. Here, we generate a whole-genome meta-database of 500 individuals from 39 TB-speaking populations and present a comprehensive landscape of genetic diversity, admixture history, and differentiated adaptative features of geographically different TB-speaking people. We identify genetic differentiation related to geography and language among TB-speaking people, consistent with their differentiated admixture process with incoming or indigenous ancestral source populations. A robust genetic connection between the Tibetan-Yi corridor and the ancient Yellow River people supports their Northern China origin hypothesis. We finally report substructure-related differentiated biological adaptative signatures between highland Tibetans and Loloish speakers. Adaptative signatures associated with the physical pigmentation (EDAR and SLC24A5) and metabolism (ALDH9A1) are identified in Loloish people, which differed from the high-altitude adaptative genetic architecture in Tibetan. TB-related genomic resources provide new insights into the genetic basis of biological adaptation and better reference for the anthropologically informed sampling design in biomedical and genomic cohort research.

Keywords: Biological adaptation; Genetic diversity; Genetic profile; Natural selection; Tibeto-Burman people.