Project description:An Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) and large volume underwater pumps were used to collect microbial biomass from offshore waters of the Sargasso Sea, from surface waters and into the deep ocean. Seawater collection was performed along a transect in the western North Atlantic Ocean beginning near Bermuda and ending off the coast of Massachusetts, capturing metabolic signatures from oligotrophic, continental margin, and productive coastal ecosystems.
Project description:For thousands of years, the Eurasian steppe has been a centre for human migrations and cultural changes. To understand its population history following the Bronze Age migrations, 137 ancient humans were sequenced. These ancient DNA sequences were notably compared to the genetic data of present-day populations from Eurasia. Besides already published data, 502 individuals currently living in Inner Asia and Jordania were sampled and newly genotyped on diverse DNA-arrays. These new data, merged as a single dataset of 242,406 autosomal SNPs, are included in the present ENA study.
Project description:Gene order, or microsynteny, is generally thought not to be conserved across metazoan phyla. Only a handful of exceptions, typically of tandemly duplicated genes such as Hox genes, have been discovered. Here, we performed a systematic survey for microsynteny conservation in 17 genomes and identified nearly 600 pairs of unrelated genes that have remained together across over 600 million years of evolution. Using multiple genome-wide resources, including several genomic features, epigenetic marks, sequence conservation and microarray expression data, we provide extensive evidence that many of these ancient microsyntenic arrangements have been conserved in order to preserve either (i) the coordinated transcription of neighboring genes, or (ii) Genomic Regulatory Blocks (GRBs), in which transcriptional enhancers controlling key developmental genes are contained within nearby “bystander” genes. In addition, we generated ChIP-seq data for key histone modifications in zebrafish embryos to further investigate putative GRBs in embryonic development. Finally, using chromosome conformation capture (3C) assays and stable transgenic experiments, we demonstrate that enhancers within bystander genes drive the expression of genes such as Otx and Islet, critical regulators of central nervous system development across bilaterians. These results show that ancient genomic associations are far more common in modern metazoans than previously thought – likely involving over 12% of the ancestral bilaterian genome – and that cis-regulatory constraints have played a major role in conserving the architecture of metazoan genomes. ChIP-seq H3K27me3 of 24hpf zebrafish embryos
Project description:To investigate dairy consumption in ancient Mongolia, we analysed dental calculus samples from four Late Bronze Age (LBA, 1500-1000 BCE) individuals for proteomic evidence of milk proteins. As many archaeological sites before Mongolia's Iron Age suffer from a dearth of occupational materials, looking to biomolecular markers of dietary intake can open new investigational avenues into ancient economies. In this case, we use a previously established method of extracting proteins from calculus to explore the consumption of dairy products at LBA Khirigsuur sites in northern Mongolia's Hovsgol Aimag. Seven of nine individual's calculus contained peptides from the whey protein Beta-lactoglobulin from Ovis, Capra hircus, Bos, and general Bovidae species. Aside from proteomics, these and 16 other individuals from the site were analysed for aDNA. We found that 18 of the 20 were primarily from one genetic ancestral group, and Ancient North Eurasian (ANE). One of the outliers represents a combination of ANE and Western Steppe Herder (WSH), with the other a combination of ANE and Eastern Asian (EE). This finding, while important in its own right, evidences the earliest known dairy consumption in Mongolia, and supports a widely held assumption that pastoralism was a primary subsistence strategy in the ancient Eastern Steppes. The combined proteomic and DNA evidence suggest that Western Steppe dairy animals and technology entered Mongolia before genetic admixture.
Project description:Protein-based materials of animal origin, such as glue or egg, are known to have been used as binding media in paints and adhesives in ancient Egypt. Despite having a wealth of artworks from this period in collections worldwide, the number of analytical studies on the organic media of these pieces is limited, especially since micro-samples are often required. Over the past two decades, the introduction of high-resolution tandem mass spectrometry (MS)-based proteomics has allowed confident identification of ancient protein remains. In this study, we used MS-based proteomics to analyse micro-samples from multiple ancient Egyptian artefacts, such as painted wooden coffins, cartonnages, wall paintings, and limestone architectural elements, dating 1425 BCE – 400 CE, from the collections of the Medelhavsmuseet in Stockholm (Sweden), the British Museum in London (UK) and the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek in Copenhagen (Denmark). Our analytical approach allowed the identification of traditional proteinaceous binders and adhesives, such as egg and glue, as well as their species of origin. Interestingly, MS-based proteomics also revealed the unexpected presence of seed storage proteins from sesame and moringa and other plant proteins previously undocumented in artworks from ancient Egypt. Their identification might be the first taxonomical confirmation of the presence and use of sesame and moringa products in ancient Egypt. This prompts new ideas about the origin of the materials, their intentionality and connection with deities, and their interpretation within the artistic, cultural and economic contexts of ancient Egypt. The findings in this research demonstrate how proteomics can provide new evidence to advance the understanding of the biological origin and use of protein sources in art, along with identifying unconventional materials that could not have been detected with other analytical strategies. Our study demonstrates that combining scientific data with information from archeological evidence and textual sources, is necessary for understanding the nature of binding media and adhesives in ancient Egypt.