德国马克斯-普朗克进化人类学研究所Matthias Meyer研究研究组取得一项新突破。他们利用洞穴沉积物中的核和线粒体DNA挖掘尼安德特人的种群历史。相关论文发表在2021年4月15日出版的《科学》杂志上。

他们开发了富集和分析沉积物中核DNA的方法，并将其应用于约200,000至50,000年前的西欧和西伯利亚南部的洞穴沉积物中。他们检测到大约100,000年前西班牙北部的人口置换，并伴随着线粒体DNA的周转。

他们还确定了晚更新世早期尼安德特人历史上的两次辐射事件。他们的工作为从沉积物中痕量核DNA研究古代人类的种群历史奠定了基础。

据了解，骨骼和牙齿是更新世人类素DNA的重要来源，但很少在考古现场被发现。已从洞穴沉积物中回收了线粒体DNA，但对于研究种群关系提供的价值有限。

附：英文原文

Title: Unearthing Neanderthal population history using nuclear and mitochondrial DNA from cave sediments

Author: Benjamin Vernot, Elena I. Zavala, Asier Gómez-Olivencia, Zenobia Jacobs, Viviane Slon, Fabrizio Mafessoni, Frédéric Romagné, Alice Pearson, Martin Petr, Nohemi Sala, Adrián Pablos, Arantza Aranburu, José María Bermúdez de Castro, Eudald Carbonell, Bo Li, Maciej T. Krajcarz, Andrey I. Krivoshapkin, Kseniya A. Kolobova, Maxim B. Kozlikin, Michael V. Shunkov, Anatoly P. Derevianko, Bence Viola, Steffi Grote, Elena Essel, David López Herráez, Sarah Nagel, Birgit Nickel, Julia Richter, Anna Schmidt, Benjamin Peter, Janet Kelso, Richard G. Roberts, Juan-Luis Arsuaga, Matthias Meyer

Issue&Volume: 2021/04/15

Abstract: Bones and teeth are important sources of Pleistocene hominin DNA, but are rarely recovered at archaeological sites. Mitochondrial DNA has been retrieved from cave sediments, but provides limited value for studying population relationships. We therefore developed methods for the enrichment and analysis of nuclear DNA from sediments, and applied them to cave deposits in western Europe and southern Siberia dated to between approximately 200,000 and 50,000 years ago. We detect a population replacement in northern Spain approximately 100,000 years ago, accompanied by a turnover of mitochondrial DNA. We also identify two radiation events in Neanderthal history during the early part of the Late Pleistocene. Our work lays the ground for studying the population history of ancient hominins from trace amounts of nuclear DNA in sediments.

DOI: 10.1126/science.abf1667

Source: https://science.sciencemag.org/content/early/2021/04/14/science.abf1667