Dataset Information

Authenticated DNA from ancient wood remains.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The reconstruction of biological processes and human activities during the last glacial cycle relies mainly on data from biological remains. Highly abundant tissues, such as wood, are candidates for a genetic analysis of past populations. While well-authenticated DNA has now been recovered from various fossil remains, the final 'proof' is still missing for wood, despite some promising studies.

Scope

The goal of this study was to determine if ancient wood can be analysed routinely in studies of archaeology and palaeogenetics. An experiment was designed which included blind testing, independent replicates, extensive contamination controls and rigorous statistical tests. Ten samples of ancient wood from major European forest tree genera were analysed with plastid DNA markers.

Conclusions

Authentic DNA was retrieved from wood samples up to 1,000 years of age. A new tool for real-time vegetation history and archaeology is ready to use.

SUBMITTER: Liepelt S

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3292245 | biostudies-literature | 2006 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Authenticated DNA from ancient wood remains.

Liepelt Sascha S Sperisen Christoph C Deguilloux Marie-France MF Petit Remy J RJ Kissling Roy R Spencer Matthew M de Beaulieu Jacques-Louis JL Taberlet Pierre P Gielly Ludovic L Ziegenhagen Birgit B

Annals of botany 20060920 5

<h4>Background</h4>The reconstruction of biological processes and human activities during the last glacial cycle relies mainly on data from biological remains. Highly abundant tissues, such as wood, are candidates for a genetic analysis of past populations. While well-authenticated DNA has now been recovered from various fossil remains, the final 'proof' is still missing for wood, despite some promising studies.<h4>Scope</h4>The goal of this study was to determine if ancient wood can be analysed ...[more]

PMID: 16987920

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Project description:BackgroundThe contemporary Italian wolf (Canis lupus italicus) represents a case of morphological and genetic uniqueness. Today, Italian wolves are also the only documented population to fall exclusively within the mitochondrial haplogroup 2, which was the most diffused across Eurasian and North American wolves during the Late Pleistocene. However, the dynamics leading to such distinctiveness are still debated.MethodsIn order to shed light on the ancient genetic variability of this wolf population and on the origin of its current diversity, we collected 19 Late Pleistocene-Holocene samples from northern Italy, which we analyzed at a short portion of the hypervariable region 1 of the mitochondrial DNA, highly informative for wolf and dog phylogenetic analyses.ResultsFour out of the six detected haplotypes matched the ones found in ancient wolves from northern Europe and Beringia, or in modern European and Chinese wolves, and appeared closely related to the two haplotypes currently found in Italian wolves. The haplotype of two Late Pleistocene samples matched with primitive and contemporary dog sequences from the canine mitochondrial clade A. All these haplotypes belonged to haplogroup 2. The only exception was a Holocene sample dated 3,250 years ago, affiliated to haplogroup 1.DiscussionIn this study we describe the genetic variability of the most ancient wolf specimens from Italy analyzed so far, providing a preliminary overview of the genetic make-up of the population that inhabited this area from the last glacial maximum to the Middle Age period. Our results endorsed that the genetic diversity carried by the Pleistocene wolves here analyzed showed a strong continuity with other northern Eurasian wolf specimens from the same chronological period. Contrarily, the Holocene samples showed a greater similarity only with modern sequences from Europe and Asia, and the occurrence of an haplogroup 1 haplotype allowed to date back previous finding about its presence in this area. Moreover, the unexpected discovery of a 24,700-year-old sample carrying a haplotype that, from the fragment here obtained, falls within the canine clade A, could represent the oldest evidence in Europe of such dog-rich clade. All these findings suggest complex population dynamics that deserve to be further investigated based on mitochondrial or whole genome sequencing.

Dataset Information

Authenticated DNA from ancient wood remains.

Background

Scope

Conclusions

Publications

Authenticated DNA from ancient wood remains.

Similar Datasets

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