Matrilineal Genetic Analysis of Tibeto‐Burman‐Speaking Populations in Guizhou

Studies on the genetic characteristics of Tibeto-Burman (TB)-speaking populations have primarily concentrated on high-altitude Tibetan populations, while studies involving TB-speaking populations in Guizhou remain scarce. This research involved sequencing the whole mitochondrial genome of 321 individuals from TB-speaking populations in Guizhou, such as Bai, Yi, and Tujia. Haplotype diversity (Hd), molecular diversity indices, neutrality tests, mismatch distributions, and Bayesian skyline plots were utilized to evaluate genetic characteristics and population fluctuations. To investigate the genetic architecture of TB populations in Guizhou, analyses of population genetics were conducted utilizing complete mitochondrial genome sequences obtained from 91 worldwide populations. The TB-speaking populations in Guizhou exhibit a significant presence of prevalent southern haplogroups (49.53%) and prevalent northern haplogroups (36.45%). Genetic analyses revealed closer genetic relationships between Guizhou TB populations and Han populations of southern China, as well as Guizhou Tai-Kadai-speaking populations. This study fills the gap in maternal genetic research at the whole mitochondrial genome level for Guizhou TB populations and provides valuable data for population genetic studies of ethnic minorities in Guizhou.