The Xinjiang Qiemo Ancient Population Mtdna Polymorphism In,

The introduction of the natural science and technology especially the molecular genetic technology into the social science during recent years has greatly improved the methodology system of the anthropology and archeological research. Due to the application and the development of molecular biological techniques, such as polymerase chain reaction(PCR), restriction enzyme cleave and sequencing, ancient DNA research has became a new cross-research realm, which combined many subjects. Based on the aDNA technology and research method as guidelines, the purpose of this article is to clarify the matrilineal genetic structure of an ancient population from Gavaerk site in Qiemo of Xinjiang Province.Teeth of forty-seven skeletal remains, dating back to 751-104 B.C., have been analyzed for the hypervariable control region (HVR- I and HVR- II) by sequencing and haplogroup-specific diagnostic single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) by RFLP or a developed method of allele specific PCR(AS-PCR) by ourselves. As a result, Compared with 13103 mtDNA sequences from modern individuals, 25 of the 47 samples were successfully analyzed and were safely assigned to relevant haplogroups. The gene pool of this population contains western Eurasian lineages (n=15, 60%) and eastern Eurasian lineages (n=10, 40%), which may contribute to modern gene pool of Xinjiang's ethnic groups. Combined with the knowledge of anthropology and archeology, genetic exchanges between the West and the East may occur when this ancient population lived or earlier.The present study demonstrates that the genetic structure of ancient Qiemo population from Xinjiang is more complex than expected, which reflects the complexity of the history in this region. Nevertheless, ancient DNA can undoubtedly be a useful and necessary tool to unveil the mysterious migration history of human beings. The genetic study on ancient populations in Xinjiang Province based on ancient DNA tool brings important elements to decipher the human population movements and genetic exchanges in Eurasia.