Putative native South Amerindian origin of head lice clade F: evidence from head lice nits infesting human shrunken heads.

ABSTRACT: The head louse, Pediculus humanus capitis, is a strictly obligate human ectoparasite with a long history of association with humans. Here, 17 ancient head lice nits were recovered from six shrunken human heads (known as tsantsas) of individuals from the Shuar/Jivaro tribe, a native Amazonian population from Ecuador, South America. Cytochrome b DNA analysis revealed the presence of three known mitochondrial clades. Clade A was the most frequent (52.94%), followed by F (35.29%), and B (11.76%). Eleven haplotypes were found in 17 samples, and nine of the haplotypes were novel, indicating an unusually high genetic diversity. In conclusion, we confirmed the presence of clades A, B and F in South Amerindian population. Moreover, the description of clade F, together with its previous reports in a

SUBMITTER: Amanzougaghene N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8918326 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature