Fine-scale population admixture landscape of Tai-Kadai-speaking Maonan in Southwest China inferred from genome-wide SNP data

Guizhou province harbored extensive ethnolinguistic and cultural diversity and was occupied by Sino-Tibetan-, Hmong-Mien- and Tai-Kadai-speaking populations. However, previous genetic analyses mainly focused on the genetic admixture history of the former two linguistic groups, the admixture history of Tai-Kadai-speaking populations in Guizhou needed to be further characterized. Thus, we genotyped genome-wide SNP data from 41 Tai-Kadai-speaking Maonan people and make a comprehensive population genetic analysis to explore their genetic origin and admixture history based on the sharing alleles and haplotypes. We found a genetic affinity among geographically different Tai-Kadai-speaking populations, especially for Maonan people from Guizhou and Guangxi harboring a high proportion of shared ancestry. Furthermore, formal tests based on the f3/f4 further identified a close connection between Maonan and geographically close Hmong-Mien and Sino-Tibetan people, which was consistent with the historically documented shared material culture. Fitted qpAdm-based two-way admixture models with ancestral sources from northern and southern East Asians demonstrated that Maonan people were an admixture population with primary ancestry related to Guangxi historic people and minor ancestry from northern East Asians, consistent with the linguistically supported their southern China origin. Here we presented the landscape of genetic structure and diversity of Maonan people and a simple demographic model for their evolutionary process. Further whole-genome-sequence-based projects could be presented with more detailed information about the population history and adaptative history of Guizhou Maonan people.