Patrilineal background of the She minority population from Chaoshan Fenghuang Mountain, an isolated mountain region, in China

Abstract The She ethnic minority population is distributed in southern China. The origin of the She population has been controversial. The purpose of this work was to investigate the genomic diversity of She. The Chaoshan She population living in the Chaoshan Fenghuang mountain is a relatively isolated population. We detected 14 Y chromosome biallelic markers (Y-SNPs) and 6 Y chromosome short tandem repeat (Y-STR) loci in Chaoshan She people. Y-SNP analysis showed the Chaoshan She was closely related to the Chaoshan Hakka, Chaoshanese, Tujia and Gaoshan national minority. Compared with the Fujian She, the Chaoshan She maintained a more southern native genetic structure. Y-STR analysis revealed the Chaoshan She population was more closely related to the Hakka population than the other Hans. We concluded the Chaoshan She population had a closer genetic relationship with the southern national minority and Hakka Han and it may be representative of She ancestors' patrilineal genetic structure.