Tissue Antigens
Volume 55 Page 128 - February 2000
doi:10.1034/j.1399-0039.2000.550204.x
Volume 55 Issue 2
Analysis of HLA genes and haplotypes in Ainu (from Hokkaido, northern Japan) supports the premise that they descent from Upper Paleolithic populations of East Asia
Authors' affiliations:M. Bannai1, J. Ohashi2, S. Harihara3, Y. Takahashi1, T. Juji4, K. Omoto5, K. Tokunaga2 Abstract:
The Ainu people are assumed to be the descendants of pre-agricultural native populations of northern Japan, while the majority of population of present-day Japan (Hondo-Japanese) is considered to have descended mainly from post-neolithic migrants.
Sequence-level polymorphisms of the HLA-class I (HLA-A and HLA-B) genes were investigated in DNA samples of 50 Ainu living in Hidaka district, Hokkaido. HLA-A*2402, A*0201, A*0206, A*2601, A*3101, B*1501, B*5101, B*3901, and B*3501 were observed at frequencies of more than 10% and most of these have previously been found in populations of not only Asians but also North and South American Indians.
A*68012, which has not so far been detected in Hondo-Japanese, was found in the Ainu (3%). On the other hand, several alleles common in Hondo-Japanese, including HLA-A*3303, A*1101, B*4403, B*5201, B*5401, B*4601, and B*0702 were infrequent in Ainu (01%).
Correspondence and neighbor-joining analyses of various populations based on HLA-A, -B and -DRB1 gene frequencies enabled distinction between Asian, Native South American, European, and African populations.
The Ainu, as well as Tlingit (Na-Dene), were placed midway between other East Asians, including Hondo Japanese, and Native South Americans (Amerindians) in the correspondence analysis.
Furthermore, several HLA-A-B and HLA-B-DR-DQ haplotypes common in the Ainu, are shared with some Native American populations. These observations strongly suggest a unique place for the Ainu as descendants of some Upper Paleolithic populations of East Asia, from whom some Native Americans may have descended.
I have seen a dissertation dealing with the New World segment of this that links a number of coastal groups, British Columbia to California.
See post #24 and below.