Majumder P P
Anthropology and Human Genetics Unit, Indian Statistical Institute, 203 BT Road, Kolkata 700 035, India.
J Biosci. 2001 Nov;26(4 Suppl):533-45. doi: 10.1007/BF02704750.
It is now widely accepted that (i) modern humans, Homo sapiens sapiens, evolved in Africa, (ii) migrated out of Africa and replaced archaic humans in other parts of the world, and (iii) one of the first waves of out-of-Africa migration came into India. India, therefore, served as a major corridor for dispersal of modern humans. By studying variation at DNA level in contemporary human populations of India, we have provided evidence that mitochondrial DNA haplotypes based on RFLPs are strikingly similar across ethnic groups of India, consistent with the hypothesis that a small number of females entered India during the initial process of the peopling of India. We have also provided evidence that there may have been dispersal of humans from India to southeast Asia. In conjunction with haplotype data, nucleotide sequence data of a hypervariable segment (HVS-1) of the mitochondrial genome indicate that the ancestors of the present austro-asiatic tribal populations may have been the most ancient inhabitants of India. Based on Y-chromosomal RFLP and STRP data, we have also been able to trace footprints of human movements from west and central Asia into India.
（i）现代人类，即智人，在非洲进化；（ii）走出非洲并取代了世界其他地区的古代人类；（iii）首批走出非洲的移民浪潮之一进入了印度。因此，印度成为现代人类扩散的主要通道。通过研究印度当代人群的DNA水平变异，我们提供了证据表明，基于限制性片段长度多态性（RFLP）的线粒体DNA单倍型在印度各民族中惊人地相似，这与少数女性在印度最初的人口迁徙过程中进入印度的假说一致。我们还提供了证据表明，人类可能从印度向东南亚扩散。结合单倍型数据，线粒体基因组高变区（HVS-1）的核苷酸序列数据表明，现今南亚语系部落人群的祖先可能是印度最古老的居民。基于Y染色体RFLP和STRP数据，我们也能够追踪到人类从西亚和中亚进入印度迁徙的足迹。
