Note to users. If you're seeing this message, it means that your browser cannot find this page's style/presentation instructions -- or possibly that you are using a browser that does not support current Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing, and what you can do to make your experience of our site the best it can be.

Site Tools

  • AAAS
  • Subscribe
  • Feedback

Site Search

Search Advanced

Science 28 September 2007:
Vol. 317. no. 5846, pp. 1927 - 1930
DOI: 10.1126/science.1146971
Prev | Table of Contents | Next

Reports

Whole-Genome Shotgun Sequencing of Mitochondria from Ancient Hair Shafts

M. Thomas P. Gilbert,1* Lynn P. Tomsho,2 Snjezana Rendulic,2 Michael Packard,2 Daniela I. Drautz,2 Andrei Sher,3 Alexei Tikhonov,4 Love Dalén,5 Tatyana Kuznetsova,6 Pavel Kosintsev,7 Paula F. Campos,1 Thomas Higham,8 Matthew J. Collins,9 Andrew S. Wilson,10 Fyodor Shidlovskiy,11 Bernard Buigues,12 Per G. P. Ericson,13 Mietje Germonpré,14 Anders Götherström,15 Paola Iacumin,16 Vladimir Nikolaev,17 Malgosia Nowak-Kemp,18 Eske Willerslev,1 James R. Knight,19 Gerard P. Irzyk,19 Clotilde S. Perbost,19 Karin M. Fredrikson,20 Timothy T. Harkins,20 Sharon Sheridan,20 Webb Miller,2*{dagger} Stephan C. Schuster2*{dagger}

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.

1 Centre for Ancient Genetics, University of Copenhagen, Universitetsparken 15, DK-2100 Copenhagen, Denmark.
2 Center for Comparative Genomics and Bioinformatics, Pennsylvania State University, 310 Wartik Building, University Park, PA 16802, USA.
3 Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution, Russian Academy of Sciences, 33 Leninsky Prospect, Moscow 119071, Russia.
4 Zoological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, Universitetskaya Naberezhnaya, St. Petersburg 199034, Russia.
5 Centro UCM-ISCIII de Evolución y Comportamiento Humanos, c/Sinesio Delgado 4, 28029 Madrid, Spain.
6 Department of Paleontology, Faculty of Geology, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Leninskiye Gory, Moscow 119992, Russia.
7 Institute of Plant and Animal Ecology, The Urals Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 202 8th of March Street, Ekaterinburg 620144, Russia.
8 Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art, Dyson Perrins Building, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3QY, UK.
9 Departments of Biology and Archaeology, BioArch, University of York, York YO10 5YW, UK.
10 Department of Archaeological Sciences, University of Bradford, Bradford BD7 1DP, UK.
11 The Ice Age Museum, All-Russia Exhibition Centre, pavilion 71, Moscow 129223, Russia.
12 2 Avenuedela Pelouse, F-94160 Saint Mandé, France.
13 Department of Vertebrate Zoology, Swedish Museum of Natural History, Post Office Box 50007, S-10405, Stockholm, Sweden.
14 Department of Palaeontology, Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, Vautierstraat 29, 1000 Brussels, Belgium.
15 Department of Evolutionary Biology, Evolutionary Biology Centre, Uppsala University, Norbyvägen 18D, SE-752 36 Uppsala, Sweden.
16 Department of Earth Sciences, University of Parma, Parco Area delle Scienze 157/A, 43100 Parma, Italy.
17 Department of Glaciology, Institute of Geography, Russian Academy of Science, 29 Staromonetny Pereulok, Moscow 109017, Russia.
18 Oxford University Museum of Natural History, Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PW, UK.
19 454 LifeSciences, 20 Commercial Street, Branford, CT 06405, USA.
20 Roche Diagnostics Corporation, 9115 Hague Road, Indianapolis, IN 46250–0414, USA.

* These authors contributed equally to this work.

{dagger} To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: webb{at}bx.psu.edu (W.M.); scs{at}bx.psu.edu (S.C.S.)

Read the Full Text


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Time Dependency of Molecular Rates in Ancient DNA Data Sets, A Sampling Artifact?.
R. Debruyne and H. N. Poinar (2009)
Syst Biol
   Full Text »    PDF »
DNA content and distribution in ancient feathers and potential to reconstruct the plumage of extinct avian taxa.
N. J. Rawlence, J. R. Wood, K. N. Armstrong, and A. Cooper (2009)
Proc R Soc B
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
New insights from old bones: DNA preservation and degradation in permafrost preserved mammoth remains.
C. Schwarz, R. Debruyne, M. Kuch, E. McNally, H. Schwarcz, A. D. Aubrey, J. Bada, and H. Poinar (2009)
Nucleic Acids Res. 37, 3215-3229
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Genomic identification in the historical case of the Nicholas II royal family.
E. I. Rogaev, A. P. Grigorenko, Y. K. Moliaka, G. Faskhutdinova, A. Goltsov, A. Lahti, C. Hildebrandt, E. L. W. Kittler, and I. Morozova (2009)
PNAS 106, 5258-5263
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
The mitochondrial genome sequence of the Tasmanian tiger (Thylacinus cynocephalus).
W. Miller, D. I. Drautz, J. E. Janecka, A. M. Lesk, A. Ratan, L. P. Tomsho, M. Packard, Y. Zhang, L. R. McClellan, J. Qi, et al. (2009)
Genome Res. 19, 213-220
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
From the Cover: Deciphering the complete mitochondrial genome and phylogeny of the extinct cave bear in the Paleolithic painted cave of Chauvet.
C. Bon, N. Caudy, M. de Dieuleveult, P. Fosse, M. Philippe, F. Maksud, E. Beraud-Colomb, E. Bouzaid, R. Kefi, C. Laugier, et al. (2008)
PNAS 105, 17447-17452
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Comment on "Whole-Genome Shotgun Sequencing of Mitochondria from Ancient Hair Shafts".
R. Debruyne, C. Schwarz, and H. Poinar (2008)
Science 322, 857a
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Response to Comment on "Whole-Genome Shotgun Sequencing of Mitochondria from Ancient Hair Shafts".
M. T. P. Gilbert, W. Miller, and S. C. Schuster (2008)
Science 322, 857b
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
The Effect of Ancient DNA Damage on Inferences of Demographic Histories.
E. Axelsson, E. Willerslev, M. T. P. Gilbert, and R. Nielsen (2008)
Mol. Biol. Evol. 25, 2181-2187
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Identification of ancient remains through genomic sequencing.
M. J. Blow, T. Zhang, T. Woyke, C. F. Speller, A. Krivoshapkin, D. Y. Yang, A. Derevianko, and E. M. Rubin (2008)
Genome Res. 18, 1347-1353
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Paleo-Eskimo mtDNA Genome Reveals Matrilineal Discontinuity in Greenland.
M. T. P. Gilbert, T. Kivisild, B. Gronnow, P. K. Andersen, E. Metspalu, M. Reidla, E. Tamm, E. Axelsson, A. Gotherstrom, P. F. Campos, et al. (2008)
Science 320, 1787-1789
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Intraspecific phylogenetic analysis of Siberian woolly mammoths using complete mitochondrial genomes.
M. T. P. Gilbert, D. I. Drautz, A. M. Lesk, S. Y. W. Ho, J. Qi, A. Ratan, C.-H. Hsu, A. Sher, L. Dalen, A. Gotherstrom, et al. (2008)
PNAS 105, 8327-8332
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »


To Advertise     Find Products

Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)