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Barquera R, Del Castillo-Chávez O, Nägele K, Pérez-Ramallo P, Hernández-Zaragoza DI, Szolek A, Rohrlach AB, Librado P, Childebayeva A, Bianco RA, Penman BS, Acuña-Alonzo V, Lucas M, Lara-Riegos JC, Moo-Mezeta ME, Torres-Romero JC, Roberts P, Kohlbacher O, Warinner C, Krause J. Ancient genomes reveal insights into ritual life at Chichén Itzá. Nature 2024; 630:912-919. [PMID: 38867041 PMCID: PMC11208145 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-024-07509-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/30/2023] [Accepted: 05/02/2024] [Indexed: 06/14/2024]
Abstract
The ancient city of Chichén Itzá in Yucatán, Mexico, was one of the largest and most influential Maya settlements during the Late and Terminal Classic periods (AD 600-1000) and it remains one of the most intensively studied archaeological sites in Mesoamerica1-4. However, many questions about the social and cultural use of its ceremonial spaces, as well as its population's genetic ties to other Mesoamerican groups, remain unanswered2. Here we present genome-wide data obtained from 64 subadult individuals dating to around AD 500-900 that were found in a subterranean mass burial near the Sacred Cenote (sinkhole) in the ceremonial centre of Chichén Itzá. Genetic analyses showed that all analysed individuals were male and several individuals were closely related, including two pairs of monozygotic twins. Twins feature prominently in Mayan and broader Mesoamerican mythology, where they embody qualities of duality among deities and heroes5, but until now they had not been identified in ancient Mayan mortuary contexts. Genetic comparison to present-day people in the region shows genetic continuity with the ancient inhabitants of Chichén Itzá, except at certain genetic loci related to human immunity, including the human leukocyte antigen complex, suggesting signals of adaptation due to infectious diseases introduced to the region during the colonial period.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rodrigo Barquera
- Department of Archaeogenetics, Max-Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology (MPI-EVA), Leipzig, Germany.
- Molecular Genetics Laboratory, Escuela Nacional de Antropología e Historia (ENAH), Mexico City, Mexico.
| | - Oana Del Castillo-Chávez
- Centro INAH Yucatán, Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia (INAH), Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico.
| | - Kathrin Nägele
- Department of Archaeogenetics, Max-Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology (MPI-EVA), Leipzig, Germany
| | - Patxi Pérez-Ramallo
- isoTROPIC Research Group, Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology, Jena, Germany
- University of the Basque Country (EHU), San Sebastián-Donostia, Spain
- Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology, Jena, Germany
- Department of Archaeology and Cultural History, University Museum, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim, Norway
| | - Diana Iraíz Hernández-Zaragoza
- Department of Archaeogenetics, Max-Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology (MPI-EVA), Leipzig, Germany
- Molecular Genetics Laboratory, Escuela Nacional de Antropología e Historia (ENAH), Mexico City, Mexico
| | - András Szolek
- Applied Bioinformatics, Dept. for Computer Science, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
- Department of Immunology, Interfaculty Institute for Cell Biology, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Adam Benjamin Rohrlach
- Department of Archaeogenetics, Max-Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology (MPI-EVA), Leipzig, Germany
- School of Computer and Mathematical Sciences, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
| | - Pablo Librado
- Institut de Biologia Evolutiva (CSIC-Universitat Pompeu Fabra), Barcelona, Spain
| | - Ainash Childebayeva
- Department of Archaeogenetics, Max-Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology (MPI-EVA), Leipzig, Germany
- Department of Anthropology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA
| | - Raffaela Angelina Bianco
- Department of Archaeogenetics, Max-Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology (MPI-EVA), Leipzig, Germany
| | - Bridget S Penman
- The Zeeman Institute and the School of Life Sciences, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK
| | - Victor Acuña-Alonzo
- Molecular Genetics Laboratory, Escuela Nacional de Antropología e Historia (ENAH), Mexico City, Mexico
| | - Mary Lucas
- isoTROPIC Research Group, Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology, Jena, Germany
- Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology, Jena, Germany
| | | | | | | | - Patrick Roberts
- isoTROPIC Research Group, Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology, Jena, Germany
- Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology, Jena, Germany
| | - Oliver Kohlbacher
- Applied Bioinformatics, Dept. for Computer Science, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
- Institute for Bioinformatics and Medical Informatics, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
- Quantitative Biology Center, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
- Translational Bioinformatics, University Hospital Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Christina Warinner
- Department of Archaeogenetics, Max-Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology (MPI-EVA), Leipzig, Germany
- Department of Anthropology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Johannes Krause
- Department of Archaeogenetics, Max-Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology (MPI-EVA), Leipzig, Germany.
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Klunk J, Vilgalys TP, Demeure CE, Cheng X, Shiratori M, Madej J, Beau R, Elli D, Patino MI, Redfern R, DeWitte SN, Gamble JA, Boldsen JL, Carmichael A, Varlik N, Eaton K, Grenier JC, Golding GB, Devault A, Rouillard JM, Yotova V, Sindeaux R, Ye CJ, Bikaran M, Dumaine A, Brinkworth JF, Missiakas D, Rouleau GA, Steinrücken M, Pizarro-Cerdá J, Poinar HN, Barreiro LB. Evolution of immune genes is associated with the Black Death. Nature 2022; 611:312-319. [PMID: 36261521 PMCID: PMC9580435 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-022-05349-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 84] [Impact Index Per Article: 42.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/12/2022] [Accepted: 09/14/2022] [Indexed: 01/10/2023]
Abstract
Infectious diseases are among the strongest selective pressures driving human evolution1,2. This includes the single greatest mortality event in recorded history, the first outbreak of the second pandemic of plague, commonly called the Black Death, which was caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis3. This pandemic devastated Afro-Eurasia, killing up to 30-50% of the population4. To identify loci that may have been under selection during the Black Death, we characterized genetic variation around immune-related genes from 206 ancient DNA extracts, stemming from two different European populations before, during and after the Black Death. Immune loci are strongly enriched for highly differentiated sites relative to a set of non-immune loci, suggesting positive selection. We identify 245 variants that are highly differentiated within the London dataset, four of which were replicated in an independent cohort from Denmark, and represent the strongest candidates for positive selection. The selected allele for one of these variants, rs2549794, is associated with the production of a full-length (versus truncated) ERAP2 transcript, variation in cytokine response to Y. pestis and increased ability to control intracellular Y. pestis in macrophages. Finally, we show that protective variants overlap with alleles that are today associated with increased susceptibility to autoimmune diseases, providing empirical evidence for the role played by past pandemics in shaping present-day susceptibility to disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jennifer Klunk
- McMaster Ancient DNA Centre, Departments of Anthropology, Biology and Biochemistry, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
- Daicel Arbor Biosciences, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Tauras P Vilgalys
- Section of Genetic Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
| | | | - Xiaoheng Cheng
- Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Mari Shiratori
- Section of Genetic Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Julien Madej
- Yersinia Research Unit, Institut Pasteur, Paris, France
| | - Rémi Beau
- Yersinia Research Unit, Institut Pasteur, Paris, France
| | - Derek Elli
- Department of Microbiology, Ricketts Laboratory, University of Chicago, Lemont, IL, USA
| | - Maria I Patino
- Section of Genetic Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Rebecca Redfern
- Centre for Human Bioarchaeology, Museum of London, London, UK
| | - Sharon N DeWitte
- Department of Anthropology, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, USA
| | - Julia A Gamble
- Department of Anthropology, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
| | - Jesper L Boldsen
- Department of Forensic Medicine, Unit of Anthropology (ADBOU), University of Southern Denmark, Odense S, Denmark
| | - Ann Carmichael
- History Department, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, USA
| | - Nükhet Varlik
- Department of History, Rutgers University, Newark, NJ, USA
| | - Katherine Eaton
- McMaster Ancient DNA Centre, Departments of Anthropology, Biology and Biochemistry, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
| | - Jean-Christophe Grenier
- Montreal Heart Institute, Faculty of Medicine, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Quebec, Canada
| | - G Brian Golding
- McMaster Ancient DNA Centre, Departments of Anthropology, Biology and Biochemistry, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
| | | | - Jean-Marie Rouillard
- Daicel Arbor Biosciences, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
- Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Michigan - Ann Arbor, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Vania Yotova
- Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Sainte-Justine, Montréal, Quebec, Canada
| | - Renata Sindeaux
- Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Sainte-Justine, Montréal, Quebec, Canada
| | - Chun Jimmie Ye
- Division of Rheumatology, Department of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA
- Institute for Human Genetics, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Matin Bikaran
- Division of Rheumatology, Department of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA
- Institute for Human Genetics, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Anne Dumaine
- Section of Genetic Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Jessica F Brinkworth
- Department of Anthropology, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA
- Carl R Woese Institute for Genomic Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA
| | - Dominique Missiakas
- Department of Microbiology, Ricketts Laboratory, University of Chicago, Lemont, IL, USA
| | - Guy A Rouleau
- Montreal Neurological Institute-Hospital, McGill University, Montréal, Quebec, Canada
| | - Matthias Steinrücken
- Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
- Department of Human Genetics, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
| | | | - Hendrik N Poinar
- McMaster Ancient DNA Centre, Departments of Anthropology, Biology and Biochemistry, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
- Michael G. DeGroote Institute of Infectious Disease Research, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
- Humans and the Microbiome Program, Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
| | - Luis B Barreiro
- Section of Genetic Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA.
- Department of Human Genetics, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA.
- Committee on Genetics, Genomics, and Systems Biology, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA.
- Committee on Immunology, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA.
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