title: The mitogenome of a 35,000-year-old Homo sapiens from Europe supports a Palaeolithic back-migration to Africa.
abstract: After the dispersal of modern humans (Homo sapiens) Out of Africa, hominins with a similar morphology to that of present-day humans initiated the gradual demographic expansion into Eurasia. The mitogenome (33-fold coverage) of the Peştera Muierii 1 individual (PM1) from Romania (35 ky cal BP) we present in this article corresponds fully to Homo sapiens, whilst exhibiting a mosaic of morphological features related to both modern humans and Neandertals. We have identified the PM1 mitogenome as a basal haplogroup U6*, not previously found in any ancient or present-day humans. The derived U6 haplotypes are predominantly found in present-day North-Western African populations. Concomitantly, those found in Europe have been attributed to recent gene-flow from North Africa. The presence of the basal haplogroup U6* in South East Europe (Romania) at 35 ky BP confirms a Eurasian origin of the U6 mitochondrial lineage. Consequently, we propose that the PM1 lineage is an offshoot to South East Europe that can be traced to the Early Upper Paleolithic back migration from Western Asia to North Africa, during which the U6 lineage diversified, until the emergence of the present-day U6 African lineages.
authors.affiliation: Department of Genetics, Physical Anthropology and Animal Physiology, University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), Barrio Sarriena s/n. 48940 Leioa, Bizkaia, Spain.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hervella
authors.affiliation: Department of Organismal Biology, Uppsala University, 75236 Uppsala, Sweden.
authors.forename: E M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Svensson
authors.affiliation: Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen, Øster Voldgade 5-7, 1350 Copenhagen, Denmark.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Alberdi
authors.affiliation: Department of Organismal Biology, Uppsala University, 75236 Uppsala, Sweden.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Günther
authors.affiliation: Department of Genetics, Physical Anthropology and Animal Physiology, University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), Barrio Sarriena s/n. 48940 Leioa, Bizkaia, Spain.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Izagirre
authors.affiliation: Department of Organismal Biology, Uppsala University, 75236 Uppsala, Sweden.
authors.forename: A R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Munters
authors.affiliation: Department of Genetics, Physical Anthropology and Animal Physiology, University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), Barrio Sarriena s/n. 48940 Leioa, Bizkaia, Spain.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Alonso
authors.affiliation: Human Genomics Laboratory, University of Medicine and Pharmacy of Craiova, Bvd. 1 Mai no 66, Romania.|Department of Internal Medicine and Radboud Center for Infectious Diseases, Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ioana
authors.affiliation: Museum of Oltenia, History and Archaeology Department, Madona Dudu str. no. 14, Craiova, Romania.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ridiche
authors.affiliation: "Fr. J. Rainer" Institute of Anthropology, Romanian Academy, Eroii Sanitari 8, P. O. Box 35-13, Romania.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Soficaru
authors.affiliation: Department of Organismal Biology, Uppsala University, 75236 Uppsala, Sweden.|Science for Life laboratory, Uppsala University, 75123 Uppsala, Sweden.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Jakobsson
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine and Radboud Center for Infectious Diseases, Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: M G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Netea
authors.affiliation: Department of Genetics, Physical Anthropology and Animal Physiology, University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), Barrio Sarriena s/n. 48940 Leioa, Bizkaia, Spain.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: de-la-Rua
mesh_terms: D000349:Africa; D000885:Anthropology, Physical; D005060:Europe; D051456:Gene Flow; D050259:Genes, Mitochondrial; D005828:Genetics, Population; D054629:Genome, Mitochondrial; D063426:Human Migration; D006801:Humans; D010802:Phylogeny; D058974:Phylogeography