{"title":"The genomic history of East Asian Middle Neolithic millet- and rice-agricultural populations.","authors":"Jianxue Xiong, Yu Xu, Guoke Chen, Liping Yang, Yawei Zhou, Yiling Pan, Zhiyou Wang, Jiujiang Bai, Baoshuai Zhang, Guanghui Dong, Jingrong Pei, Xiaomin Yang, Liang Chen, Ningwu Kang, Yangyang Wu, Bangyan Wang, Kongyang Zhu, Panxin Du, Xiaolong Li, Hetong Wen, Xiaolin Ma, Tianyou Bai, Wanfa Gu, Yu Ye, Qian Wu, Xin Chang, Jingze Tan, Lei Gao, Dong Ge, Bicheng Li, Yishi Yang, Weiwei Feng, Yini Yang, Pengfei Sheng, Hailiang Meng, Rui Wang, Jiajing Zheng, Xin Jia, Li Jin, Chuan-Chao Wang, Shaoqing Wen","doi":"10.1016/j.xgen.2025.100976","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The Yellow and Yangtze river basins in China are among the world's oldest independent agricultural centers, known for the domestication of millet and rice, respectively, yet their genetic history is poorly understood. Here, we present genome-wide data from 74 Middle Neolithic genetic samples from these regions, showing marked genetic differentiation but bidirectional gene flow, supporting a demic diffusion model of mixed farming. Yellow River populations exhibit distinct genetic substructures resulting from interactions with surrounding groups during the mid-Neolithic expansion of millet agriculture. Upper Yellow River populations are genetically linked to Tibetan Plateau populations and possess the earliest adaptive EPAS1 haplotype (∼5,800 BP) among modern humans. Meanwhile, Yangtze River rice farmers show genetic affinity with Neolithic to present-day southeast coastal China and Austronesian populations, tracing the origins of proto-Austronesians farther north to the Yangtze River. These findings offer new insights into the impact of mid-Neolithic agricultural expansion on human genetic history.</p>","PeriodicalId":72539,"journal":{"name":"Cell genomics","volume":" ","pages":"100976"},"PeriodicalIF":11.1000,"publicationDate":"2025-08-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Cell genomics","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.xgen.2025.100976","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"CELL BIOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
The Yellow and Yangtze river basins in China are among the world's oldest independent agricultural centers, known for the domestication of millet and rice, respectively, yet their genetic history is poorly understood. Here, we present genome-wide data from 74 Middle Neolithic genetic samples from these regions, showing marked genetic differentiation but bidirectional gene flow, supporting a demic diffusion model of mixed farming. Yellow River populations exhibit distinct genetic substructures resulting from interactions with surrounding groups during the mid-Neolithic expansion of millet agriculture. Upper Yellow River populations are genetically linked to Tibetan Plateau populations and possess the earliest adaptive EPAS1 haplotype (∼5,800 BP) among modern humans. Meanwhile, Yangtze River rice farmers show genetic affinity with Neolithic to present-day southeast coastal China and Austronesian populations, tracing the origins of proto-Austronesians farther north to the Yangtze River. These findings offer new insights into the impact of mid-Neolithic agricultural expansion on human genetic history.