Ancient DNA

Hofreiter, Michael; Serre, David; Poinar, Hendrik N.; Kuch, Melanie; Pääbo, Svante

doi:10.1038/35072071

Cited by 799 publications

(633 citation statements)

References 62 publications

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“…[24][25][26] Thus, the extraction of DNA and set-up of the PCR were done in a positive pressure, sterile chamber, which was physically separated from the laboratory where the post-PCR processes are usually carried out. All of the working surfaces were regularly cleaned with sodium hypochlorite and were, in addition, regularly irradiated with UV light.…”

Section: Samples and Extraction Of Dnamentioning

confidence: 99%

Low prevalence of lactase persistence in Neolithic South-West Europe

et al. 2012

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The ability of humans to digest the milk component lactose after weaning requires persistent production of the lactoseconverting enzyme lactase. Genetic variation in the promoter of the lactase gene (LCT) is known to be associated with lactase production and is therefore a genetic determinant for either lactase deficiency or lactase persistence during adulthood. Large differences in this genetic trait exist between populations in Africa and the Middle-East on the one hand, and European populations on the other; this is thought to be due to evolutionary pressures exerted by consumption of dairy products in Neolithic populations in Europe. In this study, we have investigated lactase persistence of 26 out of 46 individuals from Late Neolithic through analysis of ancient South-West European DNA samples, obtained from two burials in the Basque Country originating from 5000 to 4500 YBP. This investigation revealed that these populations had an average frequency of lactase persistence of 27%, much lower than in the modern Basque population, which is compatible with the concept that Neolithic and post-Neolithic evolutionary pressures by cattle domestication and consumption of dairy products led to high lactase persistence in Southern European populations. Given the heterogeneity in the frequency of the lactase persistence allele in ancient Europe, we suggest that in Southern Europe the selective advantage of lactose assimilation in adulthood most likely took place from standing population variation, after cattle domestication, at a post-Neolithic time when fresh milk consumption was already fully adopted as a consequence of a cultural influence.

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Section: Samples and Extraction Of Dnamentioning

confidence: 99%

Low prevalence of lactase persistence in Neolithic South-West Europe

et al. 2012

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“…These discrepancies might indicate that the samples analyzed were actually contaminated with non-authentic DNA. As contamination is indeed always possible when dealing with samples with high DNA degradation, 11,12,53 contamination cannot be excluded here, especially for the head as the first attempt to collect DNA from the sample was not successful. 21 Alternatively, they would support the hypothesis that the French kings were not the donors of these biological samples.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…9,10 The main drawback of the genetic identification of presumptive remains from historical figures is that the DNA within these samples is often degraded and that DNA contamination can mask the original DNA of the person. 11,12 When the person and his or her close relatives died a long time ago, good quality DNA as reference material is usually not available, whereas this is rarely the case in forensic cases. Nevertheless, validation of the data remains essential to confirm the results of the genetic identification.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Genetic genealogy reveals true Y haplogroup of House of Bourbon contradicting recent identification of the presumed remains of two French Kings

et al. 2013

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Genetic analysis strongly increases the opportunity to identify skeletal remains or other biological samples from historical figures. However, validation of this identification is essential and should be done by DNA typing of living relatives. Based on the similarity of a limited set of Y-STRs, a blood sample and a head were recently identified as those belonging respectively to King Louis XVI and his paternal ancestor King Henry IV. Here, we collected DNA samples from three living males of the House of Bourbon to validate the since then controversial identification of these remains. The three living relatives revealed the Bourbon's Y-chromosomal variant on a high phylogenetic resolution for several members of the lineage between Henry IV and Louis XVI. This 'true' Bourbon's variant is different from the published Y-STR profiles of the blood as well as of the head. The earlier identifications of these samples can therefore not be validated. Moreover, matrilineal genealogical data revealed that the published mtDNA sequence of the head was also different from the one of a series of relatives. This therefore leads to the conclusion that the analyzed samples were not from the French kings. Our study once again demonstrated that in order to realize an accurate genetic identification of historical remains DNA typing of living persons, who are paternally or maternally related with the presumed donor of the samples, is required.

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“…However, results should be interpreted cautiously considering that mtDNA represents a few genetic loci that might or not might reflect the overall history of the genome (Hofreiter et al. 2001). Although ancient DNA is a powerful tool, further explorations of populations dynamics related to glacial events (e. g. Dalén et al.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…2007) should also be explored using nuclear DNA sequences, morphological data (Hofreiter et al. 2001; Leonard 2008), and/or a habitat suitability approaches.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Paleodistribution modeling suggests glacial refugia in Scandinavia and out‐of‐Tibet range expansion of the Arctic fox

Fuentes-Hurtado

Hof

Jansson

2015

Ecology and Evolution

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Quaternary glacial cycles have shaped the geographic distributions and evolution of numerous species in the Arctic. Ancient DNA suggests that the Arctic fox went extinct in Europe at the end of the Pleistocene and that Scandinavia was subsequently recolonized from Siberia, indicating inability to track its habitat through space as climate changed. Using ecological niche modeling, we found that climatically suitable conditions for Arctic fox were found in Scandinavia both during the last glacial maximum (LGM) and the mid‐Holocene. Our results are supported by fossil occurrences from the last glacial. Furthermore, the model projection for the LGM, validated with fossil records, suggested an approximate distance of 2000 km between suitable Arctic conditions and the Tibetan Plateau well within the dispersal distance of the species, supporting the recently proposed hypothesis of range expansion from an origin on the Tibetan Plateau to the rest of Eurasia. The fact that the Arctic fox disappeared from Scandinavia despite suitable conditions suggests that extant populations may be more sensitive to climate change than previously thought.

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Ancient DNA

Cited by 799 publications

References 62 publications

Low prevalence of lactase persistence in Neolithic South-West Europe

Low prevalence of lactase persistence in Neolithic South-West Europe

Genetic genealogy reveals true Y haplogroup of House of Bourbon contradicting recent identification of the presumed remains of two French Kings

Paleodistribution modeling suggests glacial refugia in Scandinavia and out‐of‐Tibet range expansion of the Arctic fox

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