Manchu Y chromosomes 12/1/06. By Rachael Brooker An unusually frequent lineage of Y chromosomes in northern China and Mongolia has been linked to the Manchu conquest of China and the Qing dynasty.

Chris Tyler-Smith (Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute) and colleagues found the 'Manchu' Y-chromosomal lineage in individuals belonging to seven different populations, all of which originated in north-eastern China and Mongolia. Based upon the rate of mutations in the Y chromosome, the common ancestor is estimated to have lived about 500 years ago.

Previous studies found that 0.5 per cent of the world's Y chromosomes derive from a common ancestor who lived about 1000 years ago. This lineage has been associated with Genghis Khan and the spread of the Mongol empire. Similarly, in the new study, the researchers suggest that the Manchu Y chromosomes were spread by the nobility of the Qing dynasty (which ruled from 1644 to 1912).

This dynasty was founded by Nurhaci (1559-1626), and the nobility were a privileged, male-line elite descended from Nurhaci's paternal grandfather, Giocaugga (who died in 1582). There were 80 000 officially documented members of the nobility by the end of the Qing dynasty, with an estimated 1.6 million descendants today.

Image credit: Wessex Regional Genetics Centre

Further reading

Xue Y, et al. Recent spread of a Y-chromosomal lineage in northern China and Mongolia. Am J Hum Genet. 2005 Dec;77(6):1112-6. Abstract