Mitochondrial DNA analysis of Jomon dogs from the Kamikuroiwa Rock Shelter site in Shikoku and the Higashimyo site in Kyushu, Japan

Abstract

To investigate the genetic variation of Jomon dogs (Canis familiaris) in Japan, partial sequences of the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) control region were determined from dog bone remains, which were excavated from two Jomon-period archaeological sites, the Kamikuroiwa Rock Shelter site in Ehime Prefecture (Shikoku Island) and the Higashimyo site in Saga Prefecture (Kyushu Island), Japan. Of seven individuals from the Kamikuroiwa Rock Shelter site, the mtDNA sequences from two individuals were successfully determined. Comparison of the resultant 215 base pair sequences with previously reported sequences showed that one of these two individuals had a new haplotype, named KRA1, and that the other had the previously reported M1 haplotype. For the Higashimyo site, three of 11 individuals yielded successful sequences. Two of these three individuals shared M1 and the other one had M20, both of which are haplotypes previously reported in modern Japanese dogs, but had not been found in any Jomon dogs. The success rate in the present study was 27.8% (5/18 samples). It is noticed that the three mtDNA haplotypes (M1, M20 and KRA1) were found in Jomon dogs for the first time. In addition, sequence data were obtained from Jomon dogs in Shikoku for the first time. The results suggest that the genetic lineages in the Jomon dog populations were more polymorphic than previously reported, and that at least some maternal lineages shared in the Jomon period descended to modern dogs on the Japanese islands.

The history of ancient Japanese dogs revealed by mitogenomes

“…Throughout the existence of dogs in the Jomon period for about 7000 years, dogs (Jomon dog) retained the morphological characteristics of ancient domestic dogs, probably due to their geographical isolation from continental dogs (Shigehara, 1990(Shigehara, , 1994Komiya, 1997;Shigehara and Hongo, 2000;Komiya et al, 2015). Previous studies on the mtDNA control region (198 and 215 bp) of modern Japanese dogs and ancient dogs from archaeological sites of five historical periods, including Jomon, Yayoi, Kofun, Okhotsk, and the Kamakura periods (from about 14000 BC-14th century AD), showed a link between modern dogs and Jomon dogs by sharing haplotypes (Okumura et al, 1999;Masuda and Sato, 2015). However, these studies were based on short sequences of the control region, making haplotype sharing more likely than longer sequences, and it was not known whether modern and ancient Japanese dogs share haplotype with analyses using whole mitochondrial genomes.…”

Rediscovery of the oldest dog burial remains in Japan

“…Three of the authors, Sato, Ando, and Abe, searched far and wide for them, and on 7 March 2011, discovered what appeared to be the bones of two dog skeletons in an archaeological storeroom on Keio University's Mita campus. Other articles in this journal report on the age of these bones, their morphological characteristics , as well as analyses of DNA (Masuda and Sato, 2015) and the results of radiocarbon dating (Gakuhari et al, 2015). In this article, the authors will go back to the conditions in which the dog bones were originally excavated from the Kamikuroiwa Rock Shelter, and explain why they are convinced they have rediscovered those remains.…”

Introduction to buried dog remains unearthed from the Kamikuroiwa Rock Shelter site

“…Nonetheless, these remains are still the oldest in Japan. The authors conducted academic and general research on these valuable bones and obtained a great deal of information about the age (Gakuhari et al, 2015), morphological characteristics , lineage (Masuda and Sato, 2015), and diet of the dogs (Gakuhari et al, 2015).…”