Data from: Ethnolinguistic structuring of sorghum genetic diversity in Africa and the role of local seed systems

Sorghum is a drought-tolerant crop with a vital role in the livelihoods of millions of people in marginal areas. We examined genetic structure in this diverse crop in Africa. On the continent-wide scale, we identified three major sorghum populations (Central, Southern, and Northern) that are associated with the distribution of ethnolinguistic groups on the continent. The codistribution of the Central sorghum population and the Nilo-Saharan language family supports a proposed hypothesis about a close and causal relationship between the distribution of sorghum and languages in the region between the Chari and the Nile rivers. The Southern sorghum population is associated with the Bantu languages of the Niger-Congo language family, in agreement with the farming-language codispersal hypothesis as it has been related to the Bantu expansion. The Northern sorghum population is distributed across early Niger-Congo and Afro-Asiatic language family areas with dry agroclimatic conditions. At a finer geographic scale, the genetic substructure within the Central sorghum population is associated with language-group expansions within the Nilo-Saharan language family. A case study of the seed system of the Pari people, a Western-Nilotic ethnolinguistic group, provides a window into the social and cultural factors involved in generating and maintaining the continent-wide diversity patterns. The age-grade system, a cultural institution important for the expansive success of this ethnolinguistic group in the past, plays a central role in the management of sorghum landraces and continues to underpin the resilience of their traditional seed system.高粱（Sorghum）是一种耐旱作物，在边缘地区数百万民众的生计中发挥着至关重要的作用。本研究针对非洲地区这一多样性丰富的作物开展了遗传结构分析。在全非洲大陆尺度下，本研究鉴定出三大高粱种群——中部种群、南部种群与北部种群，其分布与非洲大陆的民族语言群体分布高度相关。中部高粱种群与尼罗-撒哈拉语系（Nilo-Saharan language family）的共分布现象，验证了一项此前提出的假说：沙里河与尼罗河之间区域内的高粱分布与语言分布存在紧密的因果关联。南部高粱种群与尼日尔-刚果语系（Niger-Congo language family）中的班图语系高度相关，这与"农作与语言共扩散"假说相符——该假说与班图扩张事件存在关联。北部高粱种群分布于早期尼日尔-刚果语系与亚非语系（Afro-Asiatic language family）覆盖的干旱农业气候区域。在更精细的地理尺度下，中部高粱种群内部的遗传亚结构，与尼罗-撒哈拉语系内的语言群体扩张事件存在关联。针对西尼罗特语族群体帕里人的种子体系开展的案例研究，为揭示塑造并维持非洲大陆高粱多样性分布格局的社会与文化因素提供了重要视角。年龄组制度作为一项对该民族语言群体过往扩张成功至关重要的文化机制，在高粱地方品种管理中发挥着核心作用，并持续支撑着其传统种子体系的韧性。