河北地质大学季强研究团队揭示了来自14.5万年前哈尔滨头盖骨牙石的丹尼索瓦人线粒体DNA。该项研究成果发表在2025年6月18日出版的《细胞》上。

小组试图从东北哈尔滨（>146 ka）一个几乎完整的中更新世头盖骨中提取DNA。虽然无法从牙齿或石结石骨中提取DNA，但可以从石结石中分离出线粒体DNA。该mtDNA属于丹尼索瓦人的mtDNA变异范围，与先前在丹尼索瓦洞穴中观察到的西伯利亚南部早期丹尼索瓦人携带的mtDNA分支有关。这表明丹尼索瓦人在更新世中期居住在亚洲的一个很大的地理范围内。丹尼索瓦人mtDNA与哈尔滨头盖骨的关联有助于更好地理解丹尼索瓦人与其他东亚中更新世化石之间的形态关系。

此外，牙结石宿主DNA的提取为中更新世古人类的遗传研究开辟了新的可能性。

研究人员表示，丹尼索瓦人与古人类的头盖骨还没有直接联系，这限制了他们对其形态和地理分布的理解。

附：英文原文

Title: Denisovan mitochondrial DNA from dental calculus of the >146,000-year-old Harbin cranium

Author: Qiaomei Fu, Peng Cao, Qingyan Dai, E. Andrew Bennett, Xiaotian Feng, Melinda A. Yang, Wanjing Ping, Svante Pbo, Qiang Ji

Issue&Volume: 2025-06-18

Abstract: Denisovans have yet to be directly associated with a hominin cranium, limiting our understanding of their morphology and geographical distribution. We have attempted to retrieve DNA from a nearly complete Middle Pleistocene cranium from Harbin (>146 ka), northeastern China. Although no DNA could be retrieved from a tooth or the petrous bone, mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) could be isolated from dental calculus. The mtDNA falls within Denisovan mtDNA variation and is related to an mtDNA branch carried by early Denisovan individuals in southern Siberia, previously observed in Denisova Cave. This suggests that Denisovans inhabited a large geographical range in Asia in the Middle Pleistocene. The association of Denisovan mtDNA with the Harbin cranium allows a better understanding of the morphological relationships between Denisovans and other East Asian Middle Pleistocene fossils. Furthermore, the retrieval of host DNA from dental calculus opens new possibilities for genetic research on Middle Pleistocene hominins.

DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2025.05.040

Source: https://www.cell.com/cell/abstract/S0092-8674(25)00627-0