Genomic adaptations to cereal‐based diets contribute to mitigate metabolic risk in some human populations of East Asian ancestry

• DOI: 10.1111/eva.13090
• Publication Date: 2020-08-08T13:17:43Z
• Authors: Arianna Landini; Shaobo Yu; Guido Alberto Gne...; Paolo Abondio; Claudia Ojeda‐Gra...; Stefania Sarno; Sara De Fanti; Davide Gentilini; Anna Maria Di Blasio; Hanjun Jin; Thanh Tin Nguyen; Giovanni Romeo; Cecilia Prata; Eugenio Bortolini; Donata Luiselli; Davide Pettener; Marco Sazzini
• Keywords: Staple food

Abstract Adoption of diets based on some cereals, especially rice, signified an iconic change in nutritional habits for many Asian populations and a relevant challenge their capability to maintain glucose homeostasis. Indeed, rice shows the highest carbohydrates content glycemic index among domesticated cereals its usual ingestion represents potential risk factor developing insulin resistance related metabolic diseases. Nevertheless, type 2 diabetes obesity epidemiological patterns differ that rely as staple food, with higher prevalence increased levels central adiposity observed people South ancestry rather than East Asians. This may be at least partly due fact from regions where wild or other such millet have been already consumed before cultivation and/or were early relied these resources period long enough possibly evolved biological adaptations counteract detrimental side effects. To test hypothesis, we compared adaptive evolution control groups adoption cereal‐based occurred thousand years later which identified genome‐wide dataset including 2,379 individuals 124 populations. revealed selective sweeps polygenic mechanisms affecting functional pathways involved fatty acids metabolism, cholesterol/triglycerides biosynthesis carbohydrates, regulation homeostasis, production retinoic acid Chinese Han Tujia ethnic groups, well Korean Japanese ancestry. Accordingly, long‐standing rice‐ millet‐based contributed trigger adaptations, might represent one factors play role mitigating