Inferring genetic origins and phenotypic traits of George Bähr, the architect of the Dresden Frauenkirche

Peltzer, Alexander; Mittnik, Alissa; Wang, Chuan‐Chao; Begg, Tristan James Alexander; Posth, Cosimo; Nieselt, Kay; Krause, Johannes

doi:10.1038/s41598-018-20180-z

Cited by 12 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 73 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Analysis of DNA degradation by DamageProfiler ( supplementary table S2 and fig. S5 , Supplementary Material online) indicated only minor 5′ (2.1% ± 0.6 SD) and 3′ (2.4% ± 0.5 SD) misincorporations compared with studies of ancient DNA (e.g., ∼8%, Peltzer et al 2018 ). The misincorporations of two the oldest museum samples dating from 1884 to 1879 were estimated at 3% and 4.5% for G→A at the 5′ end, whereas for the C→T at the 3′ end it was 2.5% and 4.3%, respectively.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 90%

Digging into the Genomic Past of Swiss Honey Bees by Whole-Genome Sequencing Museum Specimens

Wragg

Henriques

Charrière

et al. 2020

Genome Biology and Evolution

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Historical specimens in museum collections provide opportunities to gain insights into the genomic past. For the Western honey bee, Apis mellifera L., this is particularly important since its populations are currently under threat worldwide and have experienced many changes in management and environment over the last century. Using Swiss Apis mellifera mellifera as a case study, our research provides important insights into the genetic diversity of native honey bees prior to the industrial-scale introductions and trade of non-native stocks during the 20th century - the onset of intensive commercial breeding and the decline of wild honey bees following the arrival of Varroa destructor. We sequenced whole-genomes of 22 honey bees from the Natural History Museum in Bern collected in Switzerland, including the oldest A. mellifera sample ever sequenced. We identify both, a historic and a recent migrant, natural or human-mediated, which corroborates with the population history of honey bees in Switzerland. Contrary to what we expected, we find no evidence for a significant genetic bottleneck in Swiss honey bees, and find that genetic diversity is not only maintained, but even slightly increased, most probably due to modern apicultural practices. Finally, we identify signals of selection between historic and modern honey bee populations associated with genes enriched in functions linked to xenobiotics, suggesting a possible selective pressure from the increasing use and diversity of chemicals used in agriculture and apiculture over the last century.

show abstract

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 90%

Digging into the Genomic Past of Swiss Honey Bees by Whole-Genome Sequencing Museum Specimens

Wragg

Henriques

Charrière

et al. 2020

Genome Biology and Evolution

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Even if aDNA is poorly preserved, and if it shows low DNA quantity and quality, high susceptibility for contamination, and the presence of inhibitors [ 41 ], several studies have successfully predicted pigmentation of ancient skeletons. With comparison of predicted colors and historical documentation, a Polish general was positively verified [ 16 ], and some other historical questions have been solved [ 29 , 58 ]. Pigmentation traits were predicted for the remains of King Richard III of England [ 42 ], and even for skeletons several hundred years old, it has been possible to obtain information about what people’s ancestors looked like [ 83 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Eye and hair color prediction of an early medieval adult and subadult skeleton using massive parallel sequencing technology

2023

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Phenotypic trait prediction in ancient DNA analysis can provide information about the external appearance of individuals from past human populations. Some studies predicting eye and hair color in ancient adult skeletons have been published, but not for ancient subadult skeletons, which are more prone to decay. In this study, eye and hair color were predicted for an early medieval adult skeleton and a subadult skeleton that was anthropologically characterized as a middle-aged man and a subadult of unknown sex about 6 years old. When processing the petrous bones, precautions were taken to prevent contamination with modern DNA. The MillMix tissue homogenizer was used for grinding, 0.5 g of bone powder was decalcified, and DNA was purified in Biorobot EZ1. The PowerQuant System was used for quantification and a customized version of the HIrisPlex panel for massive parallel sequencing (MPS) analysis. Library preparation and templating were performed on the HID Ion Chef Instrument and sequencing on the Ion GeneStudio S5 System. Up to 21 ng DNA/g of powder was obtained from ancient petrous bones. Clean negative controls and no matches with elimination database profiles confirmed no contamination issue. Brown eyes and dark brown or black hair were predicted for the adult skeleton and blue eyes and brown or dark brown hair for the subadult skeleton. The MPS analysis results obtained proved that it is possible to predict hair and eye color not only for an adult from the Early Middle Ages, but also for a subadult skeleton dating to this period.

show abstract

“…In the last decade, several genetic studies have been conducted on the skeletal remains of famous figures from the past, such as Nicolaus Copernicus [ 38 ] and King Richard III [ 39 ], as well from lesser-known individuals [ 40 , 41 ] or mass graves victims of the Spanish Civil War [ 42 ] and Second World War [ 43 ]. These studies, conducted by interdisciplinary teams of geneticists, archaeologists, anthropologists, and historians, were excellent trials to assess the performance of standard and emerging technologies, as well as solving historical and archeological questions [ 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 , 46 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Baron Pasquale Revoltella’s Will in the Forensic Genetics Era

Fattorini

Previderé

Bonin

et al. 2023

Genes

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In this article, we describe multiple analytical strategies that were first developed for forensic purposes, on a set of three bone samples collected in 2011. We analyzed a single bone sample (patella) collected from the artificially mummified body of the Baron Pasquale Revoltella (1795–1869), as well two femurs which allegedly belonged to the Baron’s mother (Domenica Privato Revoltella, 1775–1830). Likely due to the artificial mummification procedures, the inner part of the Baron’s patella allowed the extraction of high-quality DNA yields, which were successfully used for PCR-CE and PCR-MPS typing of autosomal, Y-specific, and mitochondrial markers. The samples extracted from the trabecular inner part of the two femurs yielded no typing results by using the SNP identity panel, whereas the samples extracted from the compact cortical part of the same bone samples allowed genetic typing, even by the employment of PCR-CE technology. Altogether, 10/15 STR markers, 80/90 identity SNP markers, and HVR1, HVR2, and HVR3 regions of the mtDNA were successfully typed from the Baron’s mother’s remains by the combined use of PCR-CE and PCR-MPS technologies. The kinship analysis showed a likelihood ratio of at least 9.1 × 106 (corresponding to a probability of maternity of 99.9999999%), and thus confirmed the identity of the skeletal remains as those of the Baron’s mother. This casework represented a challenging trial for testing forensic protocols on aged bones samples. It highlighted the importance of accurately sampling from the long bones, and that DNA degradation is not blocked by freezing at −80 °C.

show abstract

Inferring genetic origins and phenotypic traits of George Bähr, the architect of the Dresden Frauenkirche

Cited by 12 publications

References 73 publications

Digging into the Genomic Past of Swiss Honey Bees by Whole-Genome Sequencing Museum Specimens

Digging into the Genomic Past of Swiss Honey Bees by Whole-Genome Sequencing Museum Specimens

Eye and hair color prediction of an early medieval adult and subadult skeleton using massive parallel sequencing technology

The Baron Pasquale Revoltella’s Will in the Forensic Genetics Era

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About