Genetic diversity, forensic characteristics and phylogenetic analysis of the Qiongzhong aborigines residing in the tropical rainforests of Hainan Island via 19 autosomal STRs.

BACKGROUND: The genetic landscape of the Qiongzhong aborigines, who reside in "the Heart of Hainan," is still unclear. The Goldeneye™ DNA ID System 20 A is available for forensic and population genetics applications. AIM: To obtain genetic polymorphisms of 19 autosomal STR loci in the Qiongzhong aborigines, and to explore the genetic relationships with a total of 69,132 people from forty-five populations. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Genotype data on 19 autosomal STRs were collected from 724 Qiongzhong aborigines and phylogenetic relationships were conducted by multidimensional scaling analysis (MDS), principal component analysis (PCA) and neighbor-joining (N-J) phylogenetic tree construction. RESULTS: No evidence of deviation from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium was identified. A total of 233 distinct alleles were observed with allele frequencies ranging from 0.0007 to 0.5375. The combined power of discrimination (CPD) and combined power of exclusion (CPE) for the 19 autosomal STR loci were 1-8.28 × 10-34 and 0.999999987, respectively. CONCLUSION: Our phylogenetic results demonstrated that (a) the populations of Southeast Asian countries have thorough integrations with southern China in terms of ethnicity and genetics due to long-term cultural and trade exchanges, and (b) based on genetic and linguistic analysis, the Qiongzhong aborigines have a close relationship with Fujian Han Chinese.HighlightsThe STR landscape of Qiongzhong aborigines inhabited in Hainan tropical rainforests was depicted by 19 autosomal STRs.A total of 69,132 people from forty-five populations were selected for a more extensive examination of genetic similarities and differences by multivariate statistical methods (MDS, PCA and N-J tree construction).The genetic analyses indicated that the populations of Southeast Asian countries are very genetically close to southern Chinese populations.From the genetic and linguistic perspective, the Qiongzhong aborigines have a close relationship with Han Chinese from Fujian Province.

The forensic landscape and the population genetic analyses of Hainan Li based on massively parallel sequencing DNA profiling.

Due to the formation of the Qiongzhou Strait by climate change and marine transition, Hainan island was isolated from the mainland southern China during the Last Glacial Maximum. Hainan island, located at the southernmost part of China and separated from the Leizhou Peninsula by the Qiongzhou Strait, laid on one of the modern human northward migration routes from Southeast Asia to East Asia. The Hlai language-speaking Li minority, the second largest population after Han Chinese in Hainan island, is the direct descendants of the initial migrants in Hainan island and has unique ethnic properties and derived characteristics; however, the forensic-associated studies on Hainan Li population are still insufficient. Hence, 136 Hainan Li individuals were genotyped in this study using the MPS-based ForenSeq™ DNA Signature Prep Kit (DNA Primer Set A, DPMA) to characterize the forensic genetic polymorphism landscape, and DNA profiles were obtained from 152 different molecular genetic markers (27 autosomal STRs, 24 Y-STRs, 7 X-STRs, and 94 iiSNPs). A total of 419 distinct length variants and 586 repeat sequence sub-variants, with 31 novel alleles (at 17 loci), were identified across the 58 STR loci from the DNA profiles of Hainan Li population. We evaluated the forensic characteristics and efficiencies of DPMA, demonstrating that the STRs and iiSNPs in DPMA were highly polymorphic in Hainan Li population and could be employed in forensic applications. In addition, we set up three datasets, which included the genetic data of (i) iiSNPs (27 populations, 2640 individuals), (ii) Y-STRs (42 populations, 8281 individuals), and (iii) Y haplogroups (123 populations, 4837 individuals) along with the population ancestries and language families, to perform population genetic analyses separately from different perspectives. In conclusion, the phylogenetic analyses indicated that Hainan Li, with a southern East Asia origin and Tai-Kadai language-speaking language, is an isolated population relatively. But the genetic pool of Hainan Li influenced by the limited gene flows from other Tai-Kadai populations and Hainan populations. Furthermore, the establishment of isolated population models will be beneficial to clarify the exquisite population structures and develop specific genetic markers for subpopulations in forensic genetic fields.

Advanced glycosylated end products restrain the osteogenic differentiation of the periodontal ligament stem cell.

BACKGROUND/PURPOSE: Many studies have confirmed that periodontal disease interacts with diabetes. The aim of this study was to examine whether the advanced glycosylated end products (AGEs), which are generated by diabetics, have important effects on the osteogenic differentiation of periodontal ligament stem cells (PDLSCs). MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this study PDLSCs were isolated from the periodontal ligaments of extracted third molar teeth. The subjects were divided into two groups, which included the normal control group (N-PDLSCs) and the AGEs-stimulating group (A-PDLSCs). Changes of receptor of AGEs (RAGE) and cumulative ROS in PDLSCs were monitored by western blot and flow cytometry, respectively. RESULTS: In the study AGEs noticeably inhibited the osteogenic differentiation of PDLSCs, with significant lower calcification nodules detected in A-PDLSCs (P < 0.01). RAGE expression level and ROS accumulation in A-PDLSCs were clearly higher than those in N-PDLSCs (P < 0.01). CONCLUSION: Our conclusions were that AGEs may cause the apoptosis of stem cells, which could lead to the disorder of bone differentiation function of PDLSCs.