BackgroundIdentification of pathogen DNA from archaeological human remains is a powerful tool in demonstrating that the infectious disease existed in the past. However, it is very difficult to detect trace amounts of DNA remnants attached to the human skeleton, especially from those buried in a humid atmosphere with a relatively high environmental temperature such as in Asia.Methodology/Principal FindingsHere we demonstrate Mycobacterium leprae DNA from archaeological skeletal remains in Japan by polymerase chain reaction, DNA sequencing and single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) analysis. In addition, we have established a highly sensitive method of detecting DNA using a combination of whole genome amplification and polymerase chain reaction, or WGA-PCR, which provides superior sensitivity and specificity in detecting DNA from trace amounts of skeletal materials.Conclusion/SignificanceWe have detected M. leprae DNA in archaeological skeletal remains for the first time in the Far East. Its SNP genotype corresponded to type 1; the first detected case worldwide of ancient M. leprae DNA. We also developed a highly sensitive method to detect ancient DNA by utilizing whole genome amplification.
An excavation at the cave site of Hang Cho in northern Vietnam resulted in the discovery of a terminal Pleistocene human skeleton in a relatively good state of preservation. The material culture from this site belongs to the pre-ceramic Hoabinhian period. An AMS radiocarbon date on a tooth sample extracted from this individual gives a calibrated age of 10450 ± 300 years BP. In discussions of the population history of Southeast Asia, it has been repeatedly advocated that Southeast Asia was occupied by indigenous people akin to present-day Australo-Melanesians prior to the Neolithic expansion of migrants from Northeast Asia into the area. Cranial and dental metric analyses were undertaken in order to assess the biological affinity of early settlers in this region. The results suggest that the Hang Cho skeleton, as well as other early or pre-Holocene remains in Southeast Asia, represent descendants of colonizing populations of late Pleistocene Sundaland, who may share a common ancestry with present-day Australian Aboriginal and Melanesian people.
Many researchers have examined regional differences in physical characteristics of Jomon people based on their cranial and dental traits, and on their estimated statures. Those studies have shown that regional differences among Jomon people were smaller than temporal differences between Jomon and modern Japanese, and anthropologists have recognized that physical traits of Jomon people were generally homogeneous among all *東北大学大学院医学系研究科人体構造学分野 〒 980-8575 仙台市青葉区星陵町 2-1
Kinship analysis was performed on a Jomon double burial from the Usu-Moshiri site in Hokkaido, Japan, using odontometric data in conjunction with mitochondrial DNA data. Q-mode correlations with respect to tooth crown measurements indicated a low similarity between the two adult female skeletons found from this burial. Moreover, mitochondrial DNA analysis revealed that these individuals were not maternal relatives. Consequently, judging from both morphological and genetic evidence, these skeletons are more likely to have been unrelated rather than consanguineous. This is the first report that provides anthropological evidence for a lack of kinship of skeletons discovered from a Jomon double burial.
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