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Complete mitogenomes document substantial genetic contribution from the Eurasian Steppe into northern Pakistani Indo-Iranian speakers

European Journal of Human Genetics (2021)Cite this article

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Abstract

To elucidate whether Bronze Age population dispersals from the Eurasian Steppe to South Asia contributed to the gene pool of Indo-Iranian-speaking groups, we analyzed 19,568 mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequences from northern Pakistani and surrounding populations, including 213 newly generated mitochondrial genomes (mitogenomes) from Iranian and Dardic groups, both speakers from the ancient Indo-Iranian branch in northern Pakistan. Our results showed that 23% of mtDNA lineages with west Eurasian origin arose in situ in northern Pakistan since ~5000 years ago (kya), a time depth very close to the documented Indo-European dispersals into South Asia during the Bronze Age. Together with ancient mitogenomes from western Eurasia since the Neolithic, we identified five haplogroups (~8.4% of maternal gene pool) with roots in the Steppe region and subbranches arising (age ~5–2 kya old) in northern Pakistan as genetic legacies of Indo-Iranian speakers. Some of these haplogroups, such as W3a1b that have been found in the ancient samples from the late Bronze Age to the Iron Age period individuals of Swat Valley northern Pakistan, even have sub-lineages (age ~4 kya old) in the southern subcontinent, consistent with the southward spread of Indo-Iranian languages. By showing that substantial genetic components of Indo-Iranian speakers in northern Pakistan can be traced to Bronze Age in the Steppe region, our study suggests a demographic link with the spread of Indo-Iranian languages, and further highlights the corridor role of northern Pakistan in the southward dispersal of Indo-Iranian-speaking groups.

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Fig. 1: Native speakers of Indo-Iranian subgroups and sampling locations.
Fig. 2: PCA plot based on haplogroup frequencies for 6528 complete mitogenomes included in the present study (Table S5).
Fig. 3: Phylogeographic presentations of genetic legacy of IE speakers from the Steppe during the Bronze Age.
Fig. 4: Bayesian skyline plot (BSP) analysis of mitogenomes in South Asia.

Data availability

The 213 complete mitochondrial DNA sequences were deposited in GenBank under accession numbers MN595684–MN595896.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Dr. Christine Watts for help in refining the paper. We also extend our gratitude to all sample donors for making this study possible. Z-UR is grateful to Dr. Jan Alam and Abdul Hameed from Hazara University, Pakistan, for discussions on the anthropological/archeological perspectives of the study. Z-UR is also grateful to former colleagues from Dr. Obaid lab at University of Karachi, Pakistan, for their support. We are also thankful to the four reviewers for providing helpful comments and suggestions.

Funding

This work was supported by the Strategic Priority Research Program (Grant No. XDA20040102), Second Tibetan Plateau Scientific Expedition, Research (STEP) (Grant No. 2019QZKK0607), National Natural Science Foundation of China (31620103907, 31601017), Chinese Academy of Sciences (QYZDB-SSW-SMC020), and Yunnan Applied Basic Research Project (2017FB044).

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Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Genetic Resources and Evolution/Key Laboratory of Healthy Aging Research of Yunnan Province, Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, China

    Zia Ur Rahman, Jiao-Yang Tian, Zong-Liang Gao, Hao-Tian Wang, Wang-Xiao Xia, Bin-Yu Yang, Li-Qin Yang, Yu-Chun Li & Qing-Peng Kong

  2. Kunming Key Laboratory of Healthy Aging Study, Kunming, China

    Zia Ur Rahman, Jiao-Yang Tian, Zong-Liang Gao, Hao-Tian Wang, Wang-Xiao Xia, Bin-Yu Yang, Li-Qin Yang, Yu-Chun Li & Qing-Peng Kong

  3. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China

    Zia Ur Rahman, Zong-Liang Gao & Hao-Tian Wang

  4. Kunming College of Life Science, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, China

    Zia Ur Rahman, Zong-Liang Gao & Hao-Tian Wang

  5. KIZ/CUHK Joint Laboratory of Bioresources and Molecular Research in Common Diseases, Kunming, China

    Bin-Yu Yang, Li-Qin Yang, Yu-Chun Li & Qing-Peng Kong

  6. CAS Center for Excellence in Animal Evolution and Genetics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, China

    Qing-Peng Kong

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Contributions

Q-PK and Y-CL designed the research; Z-UR collected samples; Z-UR and J-YT collected the data; Z-UR, J-YT, B-YY, and L-QY performed the experiments; Z-UR, Y-CL, and J-YT analyzed the data; Z-LG, H-TW, and W-XX assisted in data analysis and discussed the results; Z-UR, Y-CL, and Q-PK wrote the paper.

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Correspondence to Yu-Chun Li or Qing-Peng Kong.

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Rahman, Z.U., Tian, JY., Gao, ZL. et al. Complete mitogenomes document substantial genetic contribution from the Eurasian Steppe into northern Pakistani Indo-Iranian speakers. Eur J Hum Genet (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41431-021-00829-6

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