Genome diversity and signatures of natural selection in mainland Southeast Asia

Abstract

Mainland Southeast Asia (MSEA) has rich ethnic and cultural diversity with a population of nearly 300 million1,2. However, people from MSEA are underrepresented in the current human genomic databases. Here we present the SEA3K genome dataset (phase I), generated by deep short-read whole-genome sequencing of 3,023 individuals from 30 MSEA populations, and long-read whole-genome sequencing of 37 representative individuals. We identified 79.59 million small variants and 96,384 structural variants, among which 22.83 million small variants and 24,622 structural variants are unique to this dataset. We observed a high genetic heterogeneity across MSEA populations, reflected by the varied combinations of genetic components. We identified 44 genomic regions with strong signatures of Darwinian positive selection, covering 89 genes involved in varied physiological systems such as physical traits and immune response. Furthermore, we observed varied patterns of archaic Denisovan introgression in MSEA populations, supporting the proposal of at least two distinct instances of Denisovan admixture into modern humans in Asia3. We also detected genomic regions that suggest adaptive archaic introgressions in MSEA populations. The large number of novel genomic variants in MSEA populations highlight the necessity of studying regional populations that can help answer key questions related to prehistory, genetic adaptation and complex diseases. Analysis of whole-genome sequencing data from 3,023 human genomes from mainland Southeast Asia identifies high genetic heterogeneity among populations in the region and many unique small and structural variants.