TY - JOUR T1 - New insights from Thailand into the maternal genetic history of Mainland Southeast Asia JF - bioRxiv DO - 10.1101/162610 SP - 162610 AU - Wibhu Kutanan AU - Jatupol Kampuansai AU - Andrea Brunelli AU - Silvia Ghirotto AU - Pittayawat Pittayaporn AU - Sukhum Ruangchai AU - Roland Schröder AU - Enrico Macholdt AU - Metawee Srikummool AU - Daoroong Kangwanpong AU - Alexander Hübner AU - Leonardo Arias Alvis AU - Mark Stoneking Y1 - 2017/01/01 UR - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2017/07/12/162610.abstract N2 - Tai-Kadai (TK) is one of the major language families in Mainland Southeast Asia (MSEA), with a concentration in the area of Thailand and Laos. Our previous study of 1,234 mtDNA genome sequences supported a demic diffusion scenario in the spread of TK languages from southern China to Laos as well as northern and northeastern Thailand. Here we add an additional 560 mtDNA sequences from 22 groups, with a focus on the TK-speaking central Thai people and the Sino-Tibetan speaking Karen. We find extensive diversity, including 62 haplogroups not reported previously from this region. Demic diffusion is still a preferable scenario for central Thais, emphasizing the extension and expansion of TK people through MSEA, although there is also some support for an admixture model. We also tested competing models concerning the genetic relationships of groups from the major MSEA languages, and found support for an ancestral relationship of TK and Austronesian-speaking groups. ER -