Mitochondrial DNA analysis of the putative heart of Louis XVII, son of Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette

Jehaes, Els; Pfeiffer, Heidi; Toprak, Kaan; Decorte, Ronny; Brinkmann, B.; Cassiman, Jean Jacques

doi:10.1038/sj.ejhg.5200602

Cited by 32 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…According to Charlier et al, 24 the donor of the head belongs to mtDNA haplogroup U5b*. Our previous study of a series of living and deceased maternally related relatives of Louis XVII showed that the mtDNA haplogroup of the Habsburgs belonged to haplogroup H. 4,5 DISCUSSION Detailed Y-chr haplotypes and haplogroups were obtained for three living relatives of the House of Bourbon from which the French kings originated from 1589 (Henri IV became King of Navarre in 1572 by his mother's rights, and King of France in 1589 at the death of Henri III, as the eldest descendant of Louis IX (1214-1270)) till the end of the monarchy. Based on these results, it is clear that their genealogical common ancestor (GCA) based on the official genealogy, namely King Louis XIII, was also their biological ancestor.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 93%

“…21 Alternatively, they would support the hypothesis that the French kings were not the donors of these biological samples. Y-chromosomal analysis on the already identified heart of Louis XVII, the son of Louis XVI, 4 might further remove all doubts about the identification of the blood sample considered to be of Louis XVI and might also solve any controversy about the paternity of Louis XVI of this child. As was already stressed in earlier studies, 5 DNA typing of living relatives who are paternally or maternally related should be a requisite to solve historical cases with ancient DNA.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…25,26 Their mtDNA was available from our previous investigations regarding Louis XVII. 4,5 The results of the Y-chr and mtDNA analysis will show that the published genetic identification of the presumptive blood sample of Louis XVI and the presumed head of Henry IV cannot be confirmed.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…The genetic approach was successful, for example, to check the verity of the death of the legendary outlaw Jesse James 3 or Louis XVII, the son of Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette, who died during the French Revolution. 4,5 It also gave certainty about remains found at the burrial place of the Romanov family members, 6,7 about the biological relationship within the family of Austria's patron Saint Leopold III 8 and about the reliability and commercial value of religious relics during the Middle Ages. 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.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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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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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 93%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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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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“…Por último, el ADNmt es heredado por vía materna [4], de manera que salvo que ocurran procesos de mutación, todas las personas que estén emparentados por vía materna poseerán el mismo ADNmt. Esta propiedad es sumamente importante puesto que nos va a permitir identificaciones de restos cadavéricos incluso habiendo transcurrido varias generaciones [5][6]. …”

Section: Introductionunclassified

Guerra Civil Española (1936-1939): identificación de restos humanos procedentes de fosas comunes en Cataluña mediante análisis de ADN Mitocondrial. A propósito de un caso

Crespillo

Paredes

Arimany³

et al. 2004

Cuad. med. forense

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RESUMENLa identificación de personas desaparecidas durante la Guerra Civil española se ha convertido en un tema de interés social. El presente trabajo describe la identificación del primer cadáver exhumado en Cataluña procedente de una fosa común de la guerra civil. Como técnicas confirmativas a la metodología clásica empleada en la identificación de restos humanos (antropométricas, fórmula del análisis dental...) la ciencia forense encuentra en el análisis del ADN una herramienta útil. La identificación se llevó a cabo analizando la región de control del ADN mitocondrial debido a la antigüedad de los restos humanos (aproximadamente 65 años) y a que la única muestra de referencia disponible procedía de un lejano pariente materno (sobrina). Los productos de secuenciación fueron analizados utilizando un ABI PRISM 310 (AB). Tras cumplir con todos los requisitos de aceptación de las secuencias y descartada la posible presencia de contaminaciones eventuales, se observó una total coincidencia entre las secuencias del ADNmt del fémur y la muestra de referencia aportada por el familiar. La secuencia obtenida era 16298C, 263G, 315.1C y después de consultar una base de datos de 2192 individuos caucásicos esta secuencia fue observada una vez, de modo que la frecuencia de esta secuencia es de 0.0013. Los resultados obtenidos apoyan el hecho de que cuando los análisis convencionales de ADN nuclear son inviables el análisis de ADNmt se convierte en una útil y poderosa herramienta.

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Genetic genealogy comes of age: Perspectives on the use of deep‐rooted pedigrees in human population genetics

Larmuseau

Geystelen

Oven

et al. 2013

American J Phys Anthropol

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In this article, we promote the implementation of extensive genealogical data in population genetic studies. Genealogical records can provide valuable information on the origin of DNA donors in a population genetic study, going beyond the commonly collected data such as residence, birthplace, language, and self-reported ethnicity. Recent studies demonstrated that extended genealogical data added to surname analysis can be crucial to detect signals of (past) population stratification and to interpret the population structure in a more objective manner. Moreover, when in-depth pedigree data are combined with haploid markers, it is even possible to disentangle signals of temporal differentiation within a population genetic structure during the last centuries. Obtaining genealogical data for all DNA donors in a population genetic study is a labor-intensive task but the vastly growing (genetic) genealogical databases, due to the broad interest of the public, are making this job more time-efficient if there is a guarantee for sufficient data quality. At the end, we discuss the advantages and pitfalls of using genealogy within sampling campaigns and we provide guidelines for future population genetic studies.

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Mitochondrial DNA analysis of the putative heart of Louis XVII, son of Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette

Cited by 32 publications

References 15 publications

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

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

Guerra Civil Española (1936-1939): identificación de restos humanos procedentes de fosas comunes en Cataluña mediante análisis de ADN Mitocondrial. A propósito de un caso

Genetic genealogy comes of age: Perspectives on the use of deep‐rooted pedigrees in human population genetics

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