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Modi A, Tassi F, Susca RR, Vai S, Rizzi E, Bellis GD, Lugliè C, Gonzalez Fortes G, Lari M, Barbujani G, Caramelli D, Ghirotto S. Complete mitochondrial sequences from Mesolithic Sardinia. Sci Rep 2017; 7:42869. [PMID: 28256601 PMCID: PMC5335606 DOI: 10.1038/srep42869] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/29/2016] [Accepted: 01/17/2017] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Little is known about the genetic prehistory of Sardinia because of the scarcity of pre-Neolithic human remains. From a genetic perspective, modern Sardinians are known as genetic outliers in Europe, showing unusually high levels of internal diversity and a close relationship to early European Neolithic farmers. However, how far this peculiar genetic structure extends and how it originated was to date impossible to test. Here we present the first and oldest complete mitochondrial sequences from Sardinia, dated back to 10,000 yBP. These two individuals, while confirming a Mesolithic occupation of the island, belong to rare mtDNA lineages, which have never been found before in Mesolithic samples and that are currently present at low frequencies not only in Sardinia, but in the whole Europe. Preliminary Approximate Bayesian Computations, restricted by biased reference samples for Mesolithic Sardinia (the two typed samples) and Neolithic Europe (limited to central and north European sequences), suggest that the first inhabitants of the island have had a small or negligible contribution to the present-day Sardinian population, which mainly derives its genetic diversity from continental migration into the island by Neolithic times.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alessandra Modi
- Dipartimento di Biologia, Università di Firenze, 50122 Florence, Italy
| | - Francesca Tassi
- Dipartimento di Scienze della Vita e Biotecnologie, Università di Ferrara, 44121 Ferrara, Italy
| | - Roberta Rosa Susca
- Dipartimento di Scienze della Vita e Biotecnologie, Università di Ferrara, 44121 Ferrara, Italy
| | - Stefania Vai
- Dipartimento di Biologia, Università di Firenze, 50122 Florence, Italy
| | - Ermanno Rizzi
- Fondazione Telethon, 20121 Milano, Italy.,Istituto di Tecnologie Biomediche, CNR, 20090 Segrate, Milano, Italy
| | | | - Carlo Lugliè
- LASP, Dipartimento di Storia, Beni Culturali e Territorio, Università di Cagliari, 09124 Cagliari, Italy
| | - Gloria Gonzalez Fortes
- Dipartimento di Scienze della Vita e Biotecnologie, Università di Ferrara, 44121 Ferrara, Italy
| | - Martina Lari
- Dipartimento di Biologia, Università di Firenze, 50122 Florence, Italy
| | - Guido Barbujani
- Dipartimento di Scienze della Vita e Biotecnologie, Università di Ferrara, 44121 Ferrara, Italy
| | - David Caramelli
- Dipartimento di Biologia, Università di Firenze, 50122 Florence, Italy
| | - Silvia Ghirotto
- Dipartimento di Scienze della Vita e Biotecnologie, Università di Ferrara, 44121 Ferrara, Italy
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King TE, Fortes GG, Balaresque P, Thomas MG, Balding D, Delser PM, Neumann R, Parson W, Knapp M, Walsh S, Tonasso L, Holt J, Kayser M, Appleby J, Forster P, Ekserdjian D, Hofreiter M, Schürer K. Identification of the remains of King Richard III. Nat Commun 2014; 5:5631. [PMID: 25463651 PMCID: PMC4268703 DOI: 10.1038/ncomms6631] [Citation(s) in RCA: 126] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/05/2014] [Accepted: 10/21/2014] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
In 2012, a skeleton was excavated at the presumed site of the Grey Friars friary in Leicester, the last-known resting place of King Richard III. Archaeological, osteological and radiocarbon dating data were consistent with these being his remains. Here we report DNA analyses of both the skeletal remains and living relatives of Richard III. We find a perfect mitochondrial DNA match between the sequence obtained from the remains and one living relative, and a single-base substitution when compared with a second relative. Y-chromosome haplotypes from male-line relatives and the remains do not match, which could be attributed to a false-paternity event occurring in any of the intervening generations. DNA-predicted hair and eye colour are consistent with Richard's appearance in an early portrait. We calculate likelihood ratios for the non-genetic and genetic data separately, and combined, and conclude that the evidence for the remains being those of Richard III is overwhelming.
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Affiliation(s)
- Turi E. King
- Department of Genetics, University of Leicester, Leicester LE1 7RH, UK
- School of Archaeology and Ancient History, University of Leicester, Leicester LE1 7RH, UK
| | - Gloria Gonzalez Fortes
- Department of Biology, University of York, York YO10 5DD, UK
- Institute of Biochemistry and Biology, Universität Potsdam, Karl-Liebknechtstr. 24-25, 14476 Potsdam, Germany
| | - Patricia Balaresque
- UMR5288-CNRS/Université Paul Sabatier-Toulouse 3 Laboratoire Anthropologie Moléculaire et Imagerie de Synthèse Faculté de Médecine Purpam 37, allées Jules Guesde, 31073 Toulouse, France
| | - Mark G. Thomas
- Research Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, UK
| | - David Balding
- Research Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, UK
| | | | - Rita Neumann
- Department of Genetics, University of Leicester, Leicester LE1 7RH, UK
| | - Walther Parson
- Institute of Legal Medicine, Innsbruck Medical University, Muellerstraße 44, A-6020 Innsbruck, Austria
- Pennsylvania State University, Eberly College of Science, Thomas Bldg, #517, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802, USA
| | - Michael Knapp
- School of Biological Sciences, Bangor University, Bangor LL57 2UW, UK
| | - Susan Walsh
- Molecular Anthropology Laboratory, Department of Anthropology, Yale University, Yale, New Haven, Connecticut 06511, USA
- Department of Forensic Molecular Biology, Erasmus MC University Medical Centre Rotterdam, 3000 CA Rotterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Laure Tonasso
- UMR5288-CNRS/Université Paul Sabatier-Toulouse 3 Laboratoire Anthropologie Moléculaire et Imagerie de Synthèse Faculté de Médecine Purpam 37, allées Jules Guesde, 31073 Toulouse, France
| | - John Holt
- Space Research Centre, University of Leicester, Leicester LE1 7RH, UK
| | - Manfred Kayser
- Department of Forensic Molecular Biology, Erasmus MC University Medical Centre Rotterdam, 3000 CA Rotterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Jo Appleby
- School of Archaeology and Ancient History, University of Leicester, Leicester LE1 7RH, UK
| | - Peter Forster
- McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3ER, UK
- Murray Edwards College, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB3 0DF, UK
| | - David Ekserdjian
- Department of the History of Art and Film, University of Leicester, Leicester LE1 7RH, UK
| | - Michael Hofreiter
- Department of Biology, University of York, York YO10 5DD, UK
- Institute of Biochemistry and Biology, Universität Potsdam, Karl-Liebknechtstr. 24-25, 14476 Potsdam, Germany
| | - Kevin Schürer
- Centre for English Local History, University of Leicester, Leicester LE1 7RH, UK
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