The timing and mechanisms of the human occupation of the demanding high-altitude Tibetan Plateau environment are of great interest.Here,we report on our reinvestigations and dating of the Nwya Devu site,located nearly...The timing and mechanisms of the human occupation of the demanding high-altitude Tibetan Plateau environment are of great interest.Here,we report on our reinvestigations and dating of the Nwya Devu site,located nearly 4600 meters above sea level on the central Tibetan Plateau.A new microblade techno-complex was identified on a lower lake shore at this site,distinct from the previously reported blade tool assemblage.These two lithic assemblages were dated to 45.6±2.6 and10.3±0.5 ka using optically stimulated luminescence and accelerator mass spectrometry^(14)C methods.They represent,respectively,the earliest known Paleolithic and microlithic sites on the interior Tibetan Plateau,indicating multiple occupation episodes of hunter-gatherers during the past 45 ka.Our studies reveal that relatively stable depositional conditions and a paleoenvironment characterized by a comparatively warm climate facilitated these multiple occupations at Nwya Devu.The contemporaneous occurrence of the Upper Paleolithic blade technology on the Tibetan Plateau and most of Eurasia between 50 and 40 ka indicates rapid,large-scale dispersals of humans that profoundly affected human demography on a large scale.Combining new archaeological evidence and previously reported genetic data,we conclude that the Tibetan Plateau provided a relatively stable habitat for Upper Paleolithic hunter-gatherers,which may have contributed to the complex and multiple-origin gene pool of present-day Tibetans.展开更多
Reaching the Tibetan Plateau is notoriously challenging due to its high elevations and the surrounding mountain ranges.Considering environmental pressures such as low temperatures and precipitations,patchy resources,a...Reaching the Tibetan Plateau is notoriously challenging due to its high elevations and the surrounding mountain ranges.Considering environmental pressures such as low temperatures and precipitations,patchy resources,and especially hypoxia,continued survival in the region requires both biological and behavioral adaptations.This is probably why for a long time the Plateau was considered among the last regions occupied by human beings.展开更多
The settlement of the Tibetan Plateau epitomizes human adaptation to a high-altitude environment that poses great challenges to human activity.Here,we reconstruct a 4000-year maternal genetic history of Tibetans using...The settlement of the Tibetan Plateau epitomizes human adaptation to a high-altitude environment that poses great challenges to human activity.Here,we reconstruct a 4000-year maternal genetic history of Tibetans using 128 ancient mitochondrial genome data from 37 sites in Tibet.The phylogeny of haplotypes M9a1a,M9a1b,D4g2,G2a’c,and D4i show that ancient Tibetans share the most recent common ancestor with ancient Middle and Upper Yellow River populations around the Early and Middle Holocene.In addition,the connections between Tibetans and Northeastern Asians vary over the past 4000 years,with a stronger matrilineal connection between the two during 4000 BPe3000 BP,and a weakened connection after 3000 BP,that are coincident with climate change,followed by a reinforced connection after the Tubo period(1400 BPe1100 BP).Besides,an over 4000-year matrilineal continuity is observed in some of the maternal lineages.We also find the maternal genetic structure of ancient Tibetans is correlated to the geography and interactions between ancient Tibetans and ancient Nepal and Pakistan populations.Overall,the maternal genetic history of Tibetans can be characterized as a long-term matrilineal continuity with frequent internal and external population interactions that are dynamically shaped by geography,climate changes,as well as historical events.展开更多
The dioxygen activation catalyzed by 4-hydorxylphenyl pyruvate dioxygenase(HPPD)were reinvestigated by using hybrid quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics(QM/MM)approaches at the B3LYP/6-311++G(d,p):AMBER level.These s...The dioxygen activation catalyzed by 4-hydorxylphenyl pyruvate dioxygenase(HPPD)were reinvestigated by using hybrid quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics(QM/MM)approaches at the B3LYP/6-311++G(d,p):AMBER level.These studies showed that this reaction consisted of two steps including the dioxygen addition/decarboxylation and hetero O-O bond cleavage,where the first step was found to be rate-determining.The former step initially runs on a septet potential energy surface(PES),then switches to a quintet PES after crossing a septet/quintet minimum energy crossing point(MECP)5-7M2,whereas the rest step runs on the quintet PES.The reliability of our theoretical predictions is supported by the excellent agreement of the calculated free-energy barrier value of 16.9 kcal/mol with available experimental value of 16-17 kcal/mol.The present study challenges the widely accepted view which holds that the O2activation catalyzed byα-keto glutamate(α-KG)dioxygenase mainly runs on the quintet PES and provides new insight into the catalytic mechanism ofα-KG dioxygenase and/or other related Fe(Ⅱ)-dependent oxygenase.展开更多
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant Nos.41888101,41977380 and 42072033)the Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences(Grant Nos.XDB26000000 and XDA2004010102)+3 种基金the Second Tibetan Plateau Scientific Expedition and Research(Grant No.2019QZKK0601)the National Social Science Foundation of China(Grant No.21@WTK001)supported by the Chinese Academy of Sciences President’s International Fellowship Initiative Award(Grant No.2018VCA0016)the Je Tsongkhapa Endowment for Central and Inner Asian Archaeology at the University of Arizona。
文摘The timing and mechanisms of the human occupation of the demanding high-altitude Tibetan Plateau environment are of great interest.Here,we report on our reinvestigations and dating of the Nwya Devu site,located nearly 4600 meters above sea level on the central Tibetan Plateau.A new microblade techno-complex was identified on a lower lake shore at this site,distinct from the previously reported blade tool assemblage.These two lithic assemblages were dated to 45.6±2.6 and10.3±0.5 ka using optically stimulated luminescence and accelerator mass spectrometry^(14)C methods.They represent,respectively,the earliest known Paleolithic and microlithic sites on the interior Tibetan Plateau,indicating multiple occupation episodes of hunter-gatherers during the past 45 ka.Our studies reveal that relatively stable depositional conditions and a paleoenvironment characterized by a comparatively warm climate facilitated these multiple occupations at Nwya Devu.The contemporaneous occurrence of the Upper Paleolithic blade technology on the Tibetan Plateau and most of Eurasia between 50 and 40 ka indicates rapid,large-scale dispersals of humans that profoundly affected human demography on a large scale.Combining new archaeological evidence and previously reported genetic data,we conclude that the Tibetan Plateau provided a relatively stable habitat for Upper Paleolithic hunter-gatherers,which may have contributed to the complex and multiple-origin gene pool of present-day Tibetans.
基金supported by the Second Tibetan Plateau Scientific Expedition and Research (2019QZKK0601)the Strategic Priority Research Program of Chinese Academy of Sciences (XDB26030200 and XDA2004010102)+1 种基金the National Natural Science Foundation of China (42072033 and 41977380)the National Social Science Foundation of China (21@WTK001)。
文摘Reaching the Tibetan Plateau is notoriously challenging due to its high elevations and the surrounding mountain ranges.Considering environmental pressures such as low temperatures and precipitations,patchy resources,and especially hypoxia,continued survival in the region requires both biological and behavioral adaptations.This is probably why for a long time the Plateau was considered among the last regions occupied by human beings.
基金supported by the National Key R&D Program of China(2021YFC1523600)the Chinese Academy of Sciences(CAS)(YSBR-019 and XDB26000000)+3 种基金the National Natural Science Foundation of China(41925009)“Research on the roots of Chinese civilization”of Zhengzhou University(XKZDJC202006)the Tencent Foundation(through the XPLORER PRIZE),and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute(55008731)X.W.was supported by Key National Social Science Foundation of China(16ZDA144).
文摘The settlement of the Tibetan Plateau epitomizes human adaptation to a high-altitude environment that poses great challenges to human activity.Here,we reconstruct a 4000-year maternal genetic history of Tibetans using 128 ancient mitochondrial genome data from 37 sites in Tibet.The phylogeny of haplotypes M9a1a,M9a1b,D4g2,G2a’c,and D4i show that ancient Tibetans share the most recent common ancestor with ancient Middle and Upper Yellow River populations around the Early and Middle Holocene.In addition,the connections between Tibetans and Northeastern Asians vary over the past 4000 years,with a stronger matrilineal connection between the two during 4000 BPe3000 BP,and a weakened connection after 3000 BP,that are coincident with climate change,followed by a reinforced connection after the Tubo period(1400 BPe1100 BP).Besides,an over 4000-year matrilineal continuity is observed in some of the maternal lineages.We also find the maternal genetic structure of ancient Tibetans is correlated to the geography and interactions between ancient Tibetans and ancient Nepal and Pakistan populations.Overall,the maternal genetic history of Tibetans can be characterized as a long-term matrilineal continuity with frequent internal and external population interactions that are dynamically shaped by geography,climate changes,as well as historical events.
基金supported by the National Key R&D Program(No.2021YFD1700100)National Natural Science Foundation of China(Nos.21837001,21273089)+2 种基金the Open Project Fund of the Key Laboratory of the Pesticides and Chemical Biology of Central China Normal University(No.2018-A01)the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universitiesthe Fundamental Research Funds for the South-Central University for Nationalities(No.CZW20020)。
文摘The dioxygen activation catalyzed by 4-hydorxylphenyl pyruvate dioxygenase(HPPD)were reinvestigated by using hybrid quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics(QM/MM)approaches at the B3LYP/6-311++G(d,p):AMBER level.These studies showed that this reaction consisted of two steps including the dioxygen addition/decarboxylation and hetero O-O bond cleavage,where the first step was found to be rate-determining.The former step initially runs on a septet potential energy surface(PES),then switches to a quintet PES after crossing a septet/quintet minimum energy crossing point(MECP)5-7M2,whereas the rest step runs on the quintet PES.The reliability of our theoretical predictions is supported by the excellent agreement of the calculated free-energy barrier value of 16.9 kcal/mol with available experimental value of 16-17 kcal/mol.The present study challenges the widely accepted view which holds that the O2activation catalyzed byα-keto glutamate(α-KG)dioxygenase mainly runs on the quintet PES and provides new insight into the catalytic mechanism ofα-KG dioxygenase and/or other related Fe(Ⅱ)-dependent oxygenase.