A genetic study of 2,000‐year‐old human remains from Japan using mitochondrial DNA sequences

Oota, Hiroki; Saitou, Naruya; Matsushita, Takayuki; Ueda, Shintaroh

doi:10.1002/ajpa.1330980204

Cited by 71 publications

(63 citation statements)

References 31 publications

(29 reference statements)

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“…Almost all previous work that has employed teeth as a source of aDNA has used either the 'ground' (cf. Oota et al, 1995) or the 'scraped' (cf. Drancourt et al, 1998;Raoult et al, 2000) method described to recover dentine.…”

Section: Human Pcr Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Absence of Yersinia pestis-specific DNA in human teeth from five European excavations of putative plague victims

et al. 2004

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This study reports the results of a collaborative study undertaken by two independent research groups to (a) confirm recent PCR-based detection of Yersinia pestis DNA in human teeth from medieval plague victims in France, and (b) to extend these observations over five different European burial sites believed to contain plague victims dating from the late 13th to 17th centuries. Several different sets of primers were used, including those previously documented to yield positive results on ancient DNA extracts. No Y. pestis DNA could be amplified from DNA extracted from 108 teeth belonging to 61 individuals, despite the amplification of numerous other bacterial DNA sequences. Several methods of extracting dentine prior to the DNA extraction were also compared. PCR for bacterial 16S rDNA indicated the presence of multiple bacterial species in 23 out of 27 teeth DNA extracts where dentine was extracted using previously described methods. In comparison, positive results were obtained from only five out of 44 teeth DNA extracts for which a novel contamination-minimizing embedding technique was used. Therefore, high levels of environmental bacterial DNA are present in DNA extracts where previously described methods of tooth manipulation are used. To conclude, the absence of Y. pestis-specific DNA in an exhaustive search using specimens from multiple putative European plague burial sites does not allow us to confirm the identification of Y. pestis as the aetiological agent of the Black Death and subsequent plagues. In addition, the utility of the published tooth-based ancient DNA technique used to diagnose fatal bacteraemias in historical epidemics still awaits independent corroboration.

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Section: Human Pcr Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Absence of Yersinia pestis-specific DNA in human teeth from five European excavations of putative plague victims

et al. 2004

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“…On the basis of the phylogenetic network, six radiation groups were identified, and the frequency distributions of these radiation groups in the Doigahama Yayoi population were compared with those of the northern Kyushu Yayoi populations, the ancient Chinese populations and the modern Japanese population. In addition, we discuss the consistency between the molecular genetic data and the osteomorphological and archeological data, as discussed comprehensively by Oota et al, 37 Sato et al 43 and others.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 71%

“…36,37,[40][41][42]52 Primer MT1 corresponds to the HVI segment (nucleotide position (n.p.) 16185À16439 of the revised Cambridge Reference Sequence (rCRS)) ( Table 2).…”

Section: Dna Amplificationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Using molecular biological methods, kinship and phylogenetic analyses of ancient human remains were carried out. [34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43] Analyses of DNA from the Yayoi period were carried out mainly on skeletal remains from northern Kyushu. [35][36][37] By contrast, analysis of DNA from the Doigahama site has not yet been carried out.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Mitochondrial DNA analysis of Yayoi period human skeletal remains from the Doigahama site

et al. 2009

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We analyzed the mitochondrial DNA extracted from 14 human skeletal remains from the Doigahama site in Japan to clarify the genetic structure of the Doigahama Yayoi population and the relationship between burial style and kinship among individuals. The sequence types obtained in this study were compared with those of the modern Japanese, northern Kyushu Yayoi and ancient Chinese populations. We found that the northern Kyushu Yayoi populations belonged to the groups that include most of the modern Japanese population. In contrast, most of the Doigahama Yayoi population belonged to the group that includes a small number of the modern Japanese population. These results suggest that the Doigahama Yayoi population might have contributed less to the formation of the modern Japanese population than the northern Kyushu Yayoi populations. Moreover, when we examined the kinship between individuals in the Doigahama site, we found that the vicinal burial of adult skeletons indicated a maternal kinship, although that of juvenile skeletons did not. The vicinal burial style might have been influenced by many factors, such as paternal lineages, periods and geographical regions, as well as maternal lineages. In addition, skeletons considered to be those of shamans or leaders had the same sequence types. Their crucial social roles may have been inherited through maternal lineage.

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“…This influence is considered to be variable in degree and timing, depending on the morphological features under consideration on the one hand, and geographic region on the other (Yamaguchi, 1982(Yamaguchi, , 1985(Yamaguchi, , 1986(Yamaguchi, , 1987Dodo, 1987;Hanihara, 1987;Mizoguchi, 1988;Dodo and Ishida, 1990;Kaifu, 1992;Nakahashi, 1993;Matsumura, 1995Matsumura, , 1998bNakahashi and Iizuka, 1998;Todaka et al, 2003;Okazaki, 2004;Watanabe et al, 2004). A more direct evidence of the genetic influence of continental populations has been provided by molecular studies of both modern humans (Omoto, 1978;Horai et al, 1991;Omoto and Saitou, 1997) and ancient skeletal remains (Oota et al, 1995). A recent synthetic hypothesis, the 'dual structure model' (nijukouzou-setsu), was proposed by Hanihara (1991).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Chronology of the Yayoi skeletal remains from the Kanto district, Japan: a preliminary re-evaluation by radiocarbon dating of postcranial material

Yoneda

Saso

Suzuki³

et al. 2005

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Radiocarbon ages were determined for 25 samples of human skeletal remains previously assigned or attributable to the Yayoi period (tentatively considered ca. 500 BC to 300 AD) of the Kanto district, Japan. Suzuki (1969) and others, predominantly on cranial morphology, recognized that the Kanto Yayoi series contains three morphological groups: the native Jomon, transitional, and Kofun types. Morphological variation of the Kanto Yayoi people was considered to be chronologically based and formed the basis of Suzuki's transformation hypothesis of the origin of the Japanese, which assumed limited influence, in eastern Japan, from continental immigrants. The 14 C dates of the present study, determined for fragmentary postcranial elements of the same general assemblage, showed that these 'Yayoi' series, in part, contain skeletal remains of different ages, including those attributable to the Jomon and Kofun periods. All specimens from the Sano site that were examined were found to most likely derive from the Jomon period, while the dated Ourayama and Iwatsubo remains are best interpreted to be of Yayoi age. The Awajinsha and Bishamon samples were found to be of mixed chronological compositions. The implications of these results are discussed.

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A genetic study of 2,000‐year‐old human remains from Japan using mitochondrial DNA sequences

Cited by 71 publications

References 31 publications

Absence of Yersinia pestis-specific DNA in human teeth from five European excavations of putative plague victims

Absence of Yersinia pestis-specific DNA in human teeth from five European excavations of putative plague victims

Mitochondrial DNA analysis of Yayoi period human skeletal remains from the Doigahama site

Chronology of the Yayoi skeletal remains from the Kanto district, Japan: a preliminary re-evaluation by radiocarbon dating of postcranial material

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