African origin of modern humans in East Asia: A tale of 12,000 Y chromosomes

To test the hypotheses of modern human origin in East Asia, we sampled 12,127 male individuals from 163 populations and typed for three Y chromosome biallelic markers (YAP, M89, and M130). All the individuals carried a mutation at one of the three sites.

The origin of Mosuo people as revealed by mtDNA and Y chromosome variation

The Mosuo, living in the Lugu Lake area in northwest Yunnan Province, China, is the only matriarchal population in China. The Mosuo was officially identified as Naxi nationality although its relationship with Naxi remains controversial. We studied the gen

Y chromosome evidence of earliest modern human settlement in East Asia and multiple origins of Tibetan and Japanese populations

Background: The phylogeography of the Y chromosome in Asia previously suggested that modern humans of African origin initially settled in mainland southern East Asia, and about 25,000 30,000 years ago, migrated northward, spreading throughout East Asia. H

Global distribution of Y-chromosome haplogroup C reveals the prehistoric migration routes of African exodus and early settlement in East Asia

The regional distribution of an ancient Y-chromosome haplogroup C-M130 (Hg C) in Asia provides an ideal tool of dissecting prehistoric migration events. We identified 465 Hg C individuals out of 4284 males from 140 East and Southeast Asian populations. We genotyped these Hg C individuals using 12 Y-chromosome biallelic markers and 8 commonly used Y-short tandem repeats (Y-STRs), and performed phylogeographic analysis in combination with the published data. The results show that most of the Hg C subhaplogroups have distinct geographical distribution and have undergone long-time isolation, although Hg C individuals are distributed widely across Eurasia. Furthermore, a general south-to-north and east-to-west cline of Y-STR diversity is observed with the highest diversity in Southeast Asia. The phylogeographic distribution pattern of Hg C supports a single coastal 'Out-of-Africa' route by way of the Indian subcontinent, which eventually led to the early settlement of modern humans in mainland Southeast Asia. The northward expansion of Hg C in East Asia started similar to 40 thousand of years ago (KYA) along the coastline of mainland China and reached Siberia similar to 15 KYA and finally made its way to the Americas. Journal of Human Genetics (2010) 55, 428-435; doi:10.1038/jhg.2010.40; published online 7 May 2010

A markov chain Monte Carlo method for estimating population mixing using Y-chromosome markers: Mixing of the Han people in China

We present a new approach for estimating mixing between populations based on non-recombining markers, specifically Y-chromosome microsatellites. A Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) Bayesian statistical approach is used to calculate the posterior probability

Developments in transgenic fish in the people's Republic of China

In the People's Republic of China, genetically modified (GM) fish are being developed primarily to produce desirable alterations to growth rates or feed-conversion efficiency. Up to the present, no transgenic fish have been commercially approved for human consumption. This review introduces advances in the People's Republic of China in transgenic fish studies, biosafety studies of fast-growth GM fish, and the regulation of GM fish.

A new genus and species of freshwater monostiliferous hoplonemertean (Nemertea, Enopla) from the People's Republic of China

A new genus and species of freshwater monostiliferous hoplonemertean, Limnemertes poyangensis gen. et sp. nov., from Poyang Lake, People's Republic of China, is described and illustrated. The taxon is compared and contrasted with previously described freshwater hoplonemerteans. This is the fourth species of freshwater nemertean to be described from China and the first recorded from Poyang Lake.

Records of enchytraeidae (Clitellata) from the People's Republic of China

Eleven species of terrestrial and aquatic Enchytraeidae are reported from southeastern China. Fridericia multisegmentata and Enchytraeus athecatus are new to science, while most of the others are recorded from the country for the first time.

Research and compilation of the Geomorphologic Atlas of the People's Republic of China (1:1,000,000)

National Natural Science Foundation of China [40871177, 40830529]