Unveiling 2,000 years of differentiation among Tungusic-speaking populations: a revised phylogeny of the paternal founder lineage C2a-M48-SK1061

• Published in: Frontiers in Genetics
• Main Authors: Hui-Xin Yu, Cheligeer Ao, Xian-Peng Zhang, Kai-Jun Liu, Yi-Bing Wang, Song-Lin Meng, Hui Li, Lan-Hai Wei, Da Man
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2023
• Subjects: Tungusic-speaking populations; haplogroup C2a-M48-SK1061; founder paternal lineage; phylogeny; human evolution; Genetics; QH426-470; Ewenki
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.3389/fgene.2023.1243730; https://doaj.org/article/44032f4534f24840ac0a259f5cf48e31

Previous studies demonstrated Y chromosome haplogroup C2a-M48-SK1061 is the only founding paternal lineage of all Tungusic-speaking populations. To infer the differentiation history of these populations, we studied more sequences and constructed downstream structure of haplogroup C2a-M48-SK1061 with better resolution. In this study, we generated 100 new sequences and co-analyzed 140 sequences of C2a-M48-SK1061 to reconstruct a highly revised phylogenetic tree with age estimates. We also performed the analysis of the geographical distribution and spatial autocorrelation of sub-branches. Dozens of new sub-branches were discovered, many sub-branches were nearly unique for Ewenki, Evens, Oroqen, Xibe, Manchu, Daur, and Mongolian. The topology of these unique sub-branches is the key evidence for understanding the complex evolutionary relationship between different Tungusic-speaking populations. The revised phylogeny provided a clear pattern for the differentiation history of haplogroup C2a-M48-SK1061 in the past 2,000 years. This study showed that the divergence pattern of founder lineage is essential to understanding the differentiation history of populations.