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Optimal Ancient DNA Yields from the Inner Ear Part of the Human Petrous Bone

  • The invention and development of next or second generation sequencing methods has resulted in a dramatic transformation of ancient DNA research and allowed shotgun sequencing of entire genomes from fossil specimens. However, although there are exceptions, most fossil specimens contain only low (similar to 1% or less) percentages of endogenous DNA. The only skeletal element for which a systematically higher endogenous DNA content compared to other skeletal elements has been shown is the petrous part of the temporal bone. In this study we investigate whether (a) different parts of the petrous bone of archaeological human specimens give different percentages of endogenous DNA yields, (b) there are significant differences in average DNA read lengths, damage patterns and total DNA concentration, and (c) it is possible to obtain endogenous ancient DNA from petrous bones from hot environments. We carried out intra-petrous comparisons for ten petrous bones from specimens from Holocene archaeological contexts across Eurasia dated betweenThe invention and development of next or second generation sequencing methods has resulted in a dramatic transformation of ancient DNA research and allowed shotgun sequencing of entire genomes from fossil specimens. However, although there are exceptions, most fossil specimens contain only low (similar to 1% or less) percentages of endogenous DNA. The only skeletal element for which a systematically higher endogenous DNA content compared to other skeletal elements has been shown is the petrous part of the temporal bone. In this study we investigate whether (a) different parts of the petrous bone of archaeological human specimens give different percentages of endogenous DNA yields, (b) there are significant differences in average DNA read lengths, damage patterns and total DNA concentration, and (c) it is possible to obtain endogenous ancient DNA from petrous bones from hot environments. We carried out intra-petrous comparisons for ten petrous bones from specimens from Holocene archaeological contexts across Eurasia dated between 10,0001,800 calibrated years before present (cal. BP). We obtained shotgun DNA sequences from three distinct areas within the petrous: a spongy part of trabecular bone (part A), the dense part of cortical bone encircling the osseous inner ear, or otic capsule (part B), and the dense part within the otic capsule (part C). Our results confirm that dense bone parts of the petrous bone can provide high endogenous aDNA yields and indicate that endogenous DNA fractions for part C can exceed those obtained for part B by up to 65-fold and those from part A by up to 177-fold, while total endogenous DNA concentrations are up to 126-fold and 109-fold higher for these comparisons. Our results also show that while endogenous yields from part C were lower than 1% for samples from hot (both arid and humid) parts, the DNA damage patterns indicate that at least some of the reads originate from ancient DNA molecules, potentially enabling ancient DNA analyses of samples from hot regions that are otherwise not amenable to ancient DNA analyses.show moreshow less

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Author details:Ron PinhasiORCiD, Daniel Fernandes, Kendra Sirak, Mario Novak, Sarah Connell, Songul Alpaslan-Roodenberg, Fokke Gerritsen, Vyacheslav Moiseyev, Andrey Gromov, Pal Raczky, Alexandra Anders, Michael Pietrusewsky, Gary Rollefson, Marija Jovanovic, Hiep Trinhhoang, Guy Bar-Oz, Marc Oxenham, Hirofumi Matsumura, Michael HofreiterORCiDGND
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0129102
ISSN:1932-6203
Pubmed ID:https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26086078
Title of parent work (English):PLoS one
Publisher:PLoS
Place of publishing:San Fransisco
Publication type:Article
Language:English
Year of first publication:2015
Publication year:2015
Release date:2017/03/27
Volume:10
Issue:6
Number of pages:13
Funding institution:(ADNABIOARC) [263441]; ERC grant GeneFlow [310763]
Organizational units:Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Fakultät / Institut für Biochemie und Biologie
Peer review:Referiert
Publishing method:Open Access
External remark:Zweitveröffentlichung in der Schriftenreihe Postprints der Universität Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe ; 515
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