Genetic Structure of Qiangic Populations Residing in the Western Sichuan Corridor

The Qiangic languages in western Sichuan (WSC) are believed to be the oldest branch of the Sino-Tibetan linguistic family, and therefore, all Sino-Tibetan populations might have originated in WSC. However, very few genetic investigations have been done on Qiangic populations and no genetic evidences for the origin of Sino-Tibetan populations have been provided. By using the informative Y chromosome and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) markers, we analyzed the genetic structure of Qiangic populations. Our results revealed a predominantly Northern Asian-specific component in Qiangic populations, especially in maternal lineages. The Qiangic populations are an admixture of the northward migrations of East Asian initial settlers with Y chromosome haplogroup D (D1-M15 and the later originated D3a-P47) in the late Paleolithic age, and the southward Di-Qiang people with dominant haplogroup O3a2c1*-M134 and O3a2c1a-M117 in the Neolithic Age.

学界普遍认为，四川西部（Western Sichuan, 简称WSC）的羌语支语言是汉藏语系（Sino-Tibetan linguistic family）中最古老的分支，因此所有汉藏语系人群的起源地或均为WSC。然而，目前针对羌语支人群的遗传学研究寥寥无几，且尚未有能够佐证汉藏语系人群起源的遗传学证据发表。本研究借助具有信息价值的Y染色体（Y chromosome）与线粒体DNA（mitochondrial DNA, mtDNA）标记，对羌语支人群的遗传结构进行了分析。结果显示，羌语支人群的遗传组分以北亚特异性成分为主，母系遗传谱系中这一特征尤为突出。羌语支人群是两支迁徙人群的混合体：一支为旧石器时代晚期携带Y染色体单倍群（Y chromosome haplogroup）D（包含后续衍生的D1-M15与D3a-P47）的东亚早期定居者的北迁群体，另一支为新石器时代以单倍群O3a2c1*-M134和O3a2c1a-M117为优势单倍群的南下氐羌（Di-Qiang）人群。