Project description:We sequenced total RNA from whole blood samples of 27 wild gray wolves from Yellowstone National Park. Gene expression level analysis of both male and female wolves, ranging from ages 0.8-8.8 years.
Project description:Hominin relationships and their dispersal throughout Eurasia during the Early and Middle Pleistocene are highly debated. The relationships between Early and Middle Pleistocene hominins, like Homo antecessor and Homo erectus, and hominin species that dominate the Late Pleistocene fossil record, like Homo sapiens, Neanderthals and Denisovans, are unclear. Here, we obtain enamel proteomes from Homo antecessor (Atapuerca, Spain) and Homo erectus (Dmanisi, Georgia), two key fossil assemblages that have a central role in models of Pleistocene hominin morphology, dispersal, and divergence. We recover endogenous ancient proteomes from the Atapuerca and Dmanisi hominins. In addition, our proteomic data indicates that the sampled Homo antecessor molar derives from a male hominin through amelogenin protein sexing. Our data includes preserved in vivo phosphorylation and enamel proteome proteolytic digestion.
Project description:Spotted hyena (Crocuta crocuta) is the only extant species of the genus Crocuta, which once occupied a much wider range during the Pliocene and Pleistocene. However, its origin and evolutionary history is somewhat contentious due to discordances being found between morphological, nuclear, and mitochondrial data. Due to the limited molecular data from east Asian Crocuta, and the difficulty of extracting ancient DNA from this area, here we present proteomic analysis of cave hyenas from three locations in northern China. This marks the first proteomic data generated from cave hyenas, adding new molecular data to the east Asian populations. Phylogenetic analysis based on these protein sequences reveals two different groups of cave hyenas in east Asia, one of which could not be distinguished from modern spotted hyenas from northern Africa, tentatively the result of previously suggested gene flow between these lineages. With developments of instrumentation and analytical methods, proteomics holds promising potential for the phylogenetic reconstruction of ancient fauna previously thought to be unreachable using ancient DNA.
Project description:The project aimed to characterize the collagen type I (COL1) sequences from various modern, Holocene and Pleistocene bone, antler and skin samples for phylogenetic purposes. All extractions were performed at BioArCh, University of York (UK) or the Department of Human Evolution, MPI-EVA (Germany). Analyses took place on Q-Exactive Hybrid Quadrupole-Orbitrap MS.
Project description:A dentine sample from a previously unknown hominin specimen deriving from the Tibetan Plateau was analyzed using LC-MS/MS in order to characterize its proteome, protein damage characteristics, and phylogenetic affinities to known Late Pleistocene hominin clades (humans, Neanderthals, Denisovans).
