Bayesian Population Genetics and the Human History of China
Michael Black 1, Cheryl Wise 1, Wei Wang and Alan Bittles
1m.black@ecu.edu.au, Centre for Human Genetics, Edith Cowan University, Perth, Western Australia
Throughout recorded Chinese history, regions of the country populated by persons of
non-Han ancestry fluctuated significantly in numbers and in terms of their political
and commercial influence. Many of these communities had moved from their homelands,
settled in China, intermarried with Han Chinese and subsequently formed separate
minority populations. Thus the human history of China in large part reflects the
impact of migration, population admixture and community endogamy. To assess the
possible consequence of these three factors on the current genetic structure of PR
China, DNA samples from the majority Han, the Muslim Hui, Bo'an, Dongxiang and
Salar,
and the more ancient Kuchong, Miao, and Yao minority populations were studied using
uniparental and biparental markers. Bayesian algorithms, such as those employed in
the program STRUCTURE, were utilised in processing the generated data. The results
were compared to analyses utilising more traditional methods such as AMOVA and
F-statistics. With both 'traditional' and Bayesian methods, the
uniparental and biparental markers exhibited evidence of female gene flow, community
endogamy and differing male ancestral origins in the study populations. The results
indicate that single marker systems are of limited value in defining population
origins and relationships on a historical scale. It is suggested that the future
application and development of Bayesian analysis to the study of human genetic
diversity should include modelling that accounts for multiple-system data, and
non-genetic factors such as recent historical, demographic and cultural effects.