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Bioarchaeological and palaeogenomic portrait of two Pompeians that died during the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 AD. Sci Rep 2022; 12:6468. [PMID: 35618734 PMCID: PMC9135728 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-10899-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/17/2021] [Accepted: 04/08/2022] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
The archaeological site of Pompeii is one of the 54 UNESCO World Heritage sites in Italy, thanks to its uniqueness: the town was completely destroyed and buried by a Vesuvius’ eruption in 79 AD. In this work, we present a multidisciplinary approach with bioarchaeological and palaeogenomic analyses of two Pompeian human remains from the Casa del Fabbro. We have been able to characterize the genetic profile of the first Pompeian’ genome, which has strong affinities with the surrounding central Italian population from the Roman Imperial Age. Our findings suggest that, despite the extensive connection between Rome and other Mediterranean populations, a noticeable degree of genetic homogeneity exists in the Italian peninsula at that time. Moreover, palaeopathological analyses identified the presence of spinal tuberculosis and we further investigated the presence of ancient DNA from Mycobacterium tuberculosis. In conclusion, our study demonstrates the power of a combined approach to investigate ancient humans and confirms the possibility to retrieve ancient DNA from Pompeii human remains. Our initial findings provide a foundation to promote an intensive and extensive paleogenetic analysis in order to reconstruct the genetic history of population from Pompeii, a unique archaeological site.
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De Angelis F, Veltre V, Romboni M, Di Corcia T, Scano G, Martínez-Labarga C, Catalano P, Rickards O. Ancient genomes from a rural site in Imperial Rome (1 st-3 rd cent. CE): a genetic junction in the Roman Empire. Ann Hum Biol 2021; 48:234-246. [PMID: 34459338 DOI: 10.1080/03014460.2021.1944313] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Rome became the prosperous Capital of the Roman Empire through the political and military conquests of neighbouring areas. People were able to move Romeward modifying the Rome area's demographic structure. However, the genomic evidence for the population of one of the broadest Empires in antiquity has been sparse until recently. AIM The genomic analysis of people buried in Quarto Cappello del Prete (QCP) necropolis was carried out to help elucidate the genomic structure of Imperial Rome inhabitants. SUBJECTS AND METHODS We recruited twenty-five individuals from QCP for ancient DNA analysis through whole-genome sequencing. Multiple investigations were carried out to unveil the genetic components featuring in the studied samples and the community's putative demographic structure. RESULTS We generated reliable whole-genome data for 7 samples surviving quality controls. The distribution of Imperial Romans from QCP partly overlaps with present-day Southern Mediterranean and Southern-Near Eastern populations. CONCLUSION The genomic legacy with the south-eastern shores of the Mediterranean Sea and the Central and Western Northern-African coast funerary influence pave the way for considering people buried in QCP as resembling a Punic-derived human group.
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Affiliation(s)
- Flavio De Angelis
- Centre of Molecular Anthropology for Ancient DNA Studies, Department of Biology, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Rome, Italy
| | - Virginia Veltre
- Centre of Molecular Anthropology for Ancient DNA Studies, Department of Biology, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Rome, Italy.,PhD Program in Evolutionary Biology and Ecology, Department of Biology, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Rome, Italy
| | - Marco Romboni
- Centre of Molecular Anthropology for Ancient DNA Studies, Department of Biology, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Rome, Italy
| | - Tullia Di Corcia
- Centre of Molecular Anthropology for Ancient DNA Studies, Department of Biology, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Rome, Italy
| | - Giuseppina Scano
- Centre of Molecular Anthropology for Ancient DNA Studies, Department of Biology, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Rome, Italy
| | - Cristina Martínez-Labarga
- Centre of Molecular Anthropology for Ancient DNA Studies, Department of Biology, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Rome, Italy
| | - Paola Catalano
- Former Soprintendenza Speciale Archeologia, Belle Arti e Paesaggio di Roma. Piazza dei Cinquecento, Rome, Italy
| | - Olga Rickards
- Centre of Molecular Anthropology for Ancient DNA Studies, Department of Biology, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Rome, Italy
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De Angelis F, Scorrano G, Martínez-Labarga C, Scano G, Macciardi F, Rickards O. Mitochondrial variability in the Mediterranean area: a complex stage for human migrations. Ann Hum Biol 2018; 45:5-19. [PMID: 29382277 DOI: 10.1080/03014460.2017.1416172] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
CONTEXT The Mediterranean area has always played a significant role in human dispersal due to the large number of migratory events contributing to shape the cultural features and the genetic pool of its populations. OBJECTIVE This paper aims to review and diachronically describe the mitogenome variability in the Mediterranean population and the main demic diffusions that occurred in this area over time. METHODS Frequency distributions of the leading mitochondrial haplogroups have been geographically and chronologically evaluated. The variability of U5b and K lineages has been focussed to broaden the knowledge of their genetic histories. RESULTS The mitochondrial genetic makeup of Palaeolithic hunter-gatherers is poorly defined within the extant Mediterranean populations, since only a few traces of their genetic contribution are still detectable. The Neolithic lineages are more represented, suggesting that the Neolithic revolution had a marked effect on the peopling of the Mediterranean area. The largest effect, however, was provided by historical migrations. CONCLUSION Although the mitogenome variability has been widely used to try and clarify the evolution of the Mediterranean genetic makeup throughout almost 50 000 years, it is necessary to collect whole genome data on both extinct and extant populations from this area to fully reconstruct and interpret the impact of multiple migratory waves and their cultural and genetic consequences on the structure of the Mediterranean populations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Flavio De Angelis
- a Centre of Molecular Anthropology for Ancient DNA Studies , University of Rome "Tor Vergata" , Rome , Italy
| | - Gabriele Scorrano
- a Centre of Molecular Anthropology for Ancient DNA Studies , University of Rome "Tor Vergata" , Rome , Italy
| | - Cristina Martínez-Labarga
- a Centre of Molecular Anthropology for Ancient DNA Studies , University of Rome "Tor Vergata" , Rome , Italy
| | - Giuseppina Scano
- a Centre of Molecular Anthropology for Ancient DNA Studies , University of Rome "Tor Vergata" , Rome , Italy
| | - Fabio Macciardi
- b Laboratory of Molecular Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior , University of California , Irvine , CA , USA
| | - Olga Rickards
- a Centre of Molecular Anthropology for Ancient DNA Studies , University of Rome "Tor Vergata" , Rome , Italy
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Ponti G, Manfredini M, Ruini C. Wall paintings facies and their possible genetic correlates in the ancient Pompeii: A bio-anthropologic message from the past? Gene 2016; 589:151-6. [PMID: 27107679 DOI: 10.1016/j.gene.2016.04.038] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/23/2016] [Revised: 04/16/2016] [Accepted: 04/18/2016] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
The figurative arts and precisely the ancient Pompeian wall paintings portraits can provide an additional source of information in supplementing bio-anthropological studies. There are several genetic diseases with a wide spectrum of congenital bone stigmata in association to distinctive facial features. Gorlin-Goltz syndrome, also named nevoid basal cell carcinoma syndrome, is an autosomal dominant syndrome characterized by unusual skeletal changes, such as macrocephaly, facial asymmetry, hypertelorism, frontal and parietal bossing caused by germline mutations of the gene PTCH1. The Gorlin syndrome, clinically defined in 1963, existed during Dynastic Egyptian times, as revealed by a spectrum of skeletal findings compatible with the syndrome in mummies dating back to three thousand years ago and, most likely, in the ancient population of Pompeii. In the present research, we discuss the potential relationship between Pompeian wall paintings portrait and the cranio-metric bone changes revealed among the Pompeian skull collections assuming that the ancient portraits can constitute an important tool that should be strictly integrated with osteologic and biomolecular data in order to argue a syndromic diagnosis in ancient population.
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Affiliation(s)
- Giovanni Ponti
- Department of Surgical, Medical, Dental and Morphological Sciences with Interest transplant, Oncological and Regenerative Medicine, Clinical Pathology Unit, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Modena, Italy.
| | - Marco Manfredini
- Department of Surgical, Medical, Dental and Morphological Sciences with Interest transplant, Oncological and Regenerative Medicine, Dermatology Unit, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Modena 41124, Italy
| | - Cristel Ruini
- Department of Dermatology, Staedtisches Klinikum Muenchen, Munich, Germany; Department of Dermatology and Allergology, Ludwig Maximilian University, Munich, Germany
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Ponti G, Pellacani G, Tomasi A, Sammaria G, Manfredini M. Skeletal stigmata as keys to access to the composite and ancient Gorlin-Goltz syndrome history: The Egypt, Pompeii and Herculaneum lessons. Gene 2016; 589:104-11. [PMID: 26794802 DOI: 10.1016/j.gene.2016.01.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/30/2015] [Revised: 01/05/2016] [Accepted: 01/09/2016] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
Abstract
There are several genetic diseases with a wide spectrum of congenital bone stigmata in association to cutaneous and visceral benign and malignant neoplasms. Gorlin-Goltz syndrome, also named nevoid basal cell carcinoma syndrome, is an autosomal dominant systemic disease with almost complete penetrance and high intra-familial phenotypic variability, caused by germline mutations of the gene PTCH1. The syndrome is characterized by unusual skeletal changes and high predisposition to the development of multiple basal cell carcinomas, odontogenic keratocysts tumors and other visceral tumors. The Gorlin syndrome, clinically defined as distinct syndrome in 1963, existed during Dynastic Egyptian times, as revealed by a costellation of skeletal findings compatible with the syndrome in mummies dating back to 3000years ago and, most likely, in the ancient population of Pompeii. These paleogenetic and historical evidences, together with the clinical and biomolecular modern evidences, confirm the quite benign behavior of the syndrome and the critical value of the multiple and synchronous skeletal anomalies in the recognition of these rare and complex genetic disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Giovanni Ponti
- Department of Surgical, Medical, Dental and Morphological Sciences with Interest transplant, Oncological and Regenerative Medicine, Dermatology Unit, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Italy.
| | - Giovanni Pellacani
- Department of Surgical, Medical, Dental and Morphological Sciences with Interest transplant, Oncological and Regenerative Medicine, Dermatology Unit, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Italy
| | - Aldo Tomasi
- Department of Diagnostic Medicine, Clinical and Public Health, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Italy
| | - Giuliano Sammaria
- Department of Surgical, Medical, Dental and Morphological Sciences with Interest transplant, Oncological and Regenerative Medicine, Dermatology Unit, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Italy
| | - Marco Manfredini
- Department of Surgical, Medical, Dental and Morphological Sciences with Interest transplant, Oncological and Regenerative Medicine, Dermatology Unit, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Italy
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Preamplification procedure for the analysis of ancient DNA samples. ScientificWorldJournal 2013; 2013:734676. [PMID: 24187523 PMCID: PMC3800654 DOI: 10.1155/2013/734676] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/06/2013] [Accepted: 09/02/2013] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
In ancient DNA studies the low amount of endogenous DNA represents a limiting factor that often hampers the result achievement. In this study we extracted the DNA from nine human skeletal remains of different ages found in the Byzantine cemetery of Abdera Halkidiki and in the medieval cemetery of St. Spiridion in Rhodes (Greece). Real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) was used to detect in the extracts the presence of PCR inhibitors and to estimate the DNA content. As mitochondrial DNA was detected in all samples, amplification of nuclear targets, as amelogenin and the polymorphism M470V of the transmembrane conductance regulator gene, yielded positive results in one case only. In an effort to improve amplification success, we applied, for the first time in ancient DNA, a preamplification strategy based on TaqMan PreAmp Master Mix. A comparison between results obtained from nonpreamplified and preamplified samples is reported. Our data, even if preliminary, show that the TaqMan PreAmp procedure may improve the sensitivity of qPCR analysis.
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