Whole-genome shotgun sequencing of mitochondria from ancient hair shafts.
Although the application of sequencing-by-synthesis techniques to DNA extracted from bones has revolutionized the study of ancient DNA, it has been plagued by large fractions of contaminating environmental DNA. The genetic analyses of hair shafts could be a solution: We present 10 previously unexamined Siberian mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius) mitochondrial genomes, sequenced with up to 48-fold coverage. The observed levels of damage-derived sequencing errors were lower than those observed in previously published frozen bone samples, even though one of the specimens was >50,000 14C years old and another had been stored for 200 years at room temperature. The method therefore sets the stage for molecular-genetic analysis of museum collections.
Gilbert
M Thomas P
MT
Centre for Ancient Genetics, University of Copenhagen, Universitetsparken 15, DK-2100 Copenhagen, Denmark.
Tomsho
Lynn P
LP
Rendulic
Snjezana
S
Packard
Michael
M
Drautz
Daniela I
DI
Sher
Andrei
A
Tikhonov
Alexei
A
Dalén
Love
L
Kuznetsova
Tatyana
T
Kosintsev
Pavel
P
Campos
Paula F
PF
Higham
Thomas
T
Collins
Matthew J
MJ
Wilson
Andrew S
AS
Shidlovskiy
Fyodor
F
Buigues
Bernard
B
Ericson
Per G P
PG
Germonpré
Mietje
M
Götherström
Anders
A
Iacumin
Paola
P
Nikolaev
Vladimir
V
Nowak-Kemp
Malgosia
M
Willerslev
Eske
E
Knight
James R
JR
Irzyk
Gerard P
GP
Perbost
Clotilde S
CS
Fredrikson
Karin M
KM
Harkins
Timothy T
TT
Sheridan
Sharon
S
Miller
Webb
W
Schuster
Stephan C
SC
D000818:Animals; D001842:Bone and Bones / Q000737:chemistry; D004249:DNA Damage; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000266:history*; D004606:Elephants / Q000235:genetics*; D050259:Genes, Mitochondrial; D016678:Genome; D006197:Hair / Q000737:chemistry / Q000648:ultrastructure; D049690:History, Ancient; D008928:Mitochondria / Q000235:genetics*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D011309:Preservation, Biological; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D012800:Siberia; D013696:Temperature
D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial