Complete Mitochondrial Genome Sequence of the Tyrolean Iceman

Luca Ermini; Cristina Olivieri; Ermanno Rizzi; Giorgio Corti; Raoul Bonnal; Pedro Soares; Stefania Luciani; Isolina Marota; Gianluca De Bellis; Martin B. Richards; Franco Rollo

doi:10.1016/j.cub.2008.09.028

Complete Mitochondrial Genome Sequence of the Tyrolean Iceman

Luca Ermini, Cristina Olivieri, Ermanno Rizzi, Giorgio Corti, Raoul Bonnal, Pedro Soares, Stefania Luciani, Isolina Marota, Gianluca De Bellis, Martin B. Richards, Franco Rollo^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review

91 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The Tyrolean Iceman was a witness to the Neolithic-Copper Age transition in Central Europe 5350-5100 years ago, and his mummified corpse was recovered from an Alpine glacier on the Austro-Italian border in 1991 [1]. Using a mixed sequencing procedure based on PCR amplification and 454 sequencing of pooled amplification products, we have retrieved the first complete mitochondrial-genome sequence of a prehistoric European. We have then compared it with 115 related extant lineages from mitochondrial haplogroup K. We found that the Iceman belonged to a branch of mitochondrial haplogroup K1 that has not yet been identified in modern European populations. This is the oldest complete Homo sapiens mtDNA genome generated to date. The results point to the potential significance of complete-ancient-mtDNA studies in addressing questions concerning the genetic history of human populations that the phylogeography of modern lineages is unable to tackle.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	1687-1693
Number of pages	7
Journal	Current Biology
Volume	18
Issue number	21
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2008.09.028
Publication status	Published - 11 Nov 2008
Externally published	Yes

Keywords

DNA
EVOL_ECOL
HUMDISEASE

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10.1016/j.cub.2008.09.028

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@article{0ed4bb7e8fa444699202fe928e40c0c2,

title = "Complete Mitochondrial Genome Sequence of the Tyrolean Iceman",

abstract = "The Tyrolean Iceman was a witness to the Neolithic-Copper Age transition in Central Europe 5350-5100 years ago, and his mummified corpse was recovered from an Alpine glacier on the Austro-Italian border in 1991 [1]. Using a mixed sequencing procedure based on PCR amplification and 454 sequencing of pooled amplification products, we have retrieved the first complete mitochondrial-genome sequence of a prehistoric European. We have then compared it with 115 related extant lineages from mitochondrial haplogroup K. We found that the Iceman belonged to a branch of mitochondrial haplogroup K1 that has not yet been identified in modern European populations. This is the oldest complete Homo sapiens mtDNA genome generated to date. The results point to the potential significance of complete-ancient-mtDNA studies in addressing questions concerning the genetic history of human populations that the phylogeography of modern lineages is unable to tackle.",

keywords = "DNA, EVOL_ECOL, HUMDISEASE",

author = "Luca Ermini and Cristina Olivieri and Ermanno Rizzi and Giorgio Corti and Raoul Bonnal and Pedro Soares and Stefania Luciani and Isolina Marota and {De Bellis}, Gianluca and Richards, {Martin B.} and Franco Rollo",

note = "Funding Information: We thank Donata Luiselli of the University of Bologna for providing mtDNA typing for the personnel of the Laboratorio di Archeo-Antropologia Molecolare/DNA Antico; Eduard Egarter Vigl of the Regional Hospital of Bolzano and the South Tyrol Archaeological Museum, Bolzano, for providing the mummy specimens; and three anonymous reviewers for their useful comments and suggestions. This research was supported by an Eli Lilly donation to F.R. ",

year = "2008",

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doi = "10.1016/j.cub.2008.09.028",

language = "English",

volume = "18",

pages = "1687--1693",

journal = "Current Biology",

issn = "0960-9822",

publisher = "Cell Press",

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AU - Ermini, Luca

AU - Olivieri, Cristina

AU - Rizzi, Ermanno

AU - Corti, Giorgio

AU - Bonnal, Raoul

AU - Soares, Pedro

AU - Luciani, Stefania

AU - Marota, Isolina

AU - De Bellis, Gianluca

AU - Richards, Martin B.

AU - Rollo, Franco

N1 - Funding Information: We thank Donata Luiselli of the University of Bologna for providing mtDNA typing for the personnel of the Laboratorio di Archeo-Antropologia Molecolare/DNA Antico; Eduard Egarter Vigl of the Regional Hospital of Bolzano and the South Tyrol Archaeological Museum, Bolzano, for providing the mummy specimens; and three anonymous reviewers for their useful comments and suggestions. This research was supported by an Eli Lilly donation to F.R.

PY - 2008/11/11

Y1 - 2008/11/11

N2 - The Tyrolean Iceman was a witness to the Neolithic-Copper Age transition in Central Europe 5350-5100 years ago, and his mummified corpse was recovered from an Alpine glacier on the Austro-Italian border in 1991 [1]. Using a mixed sequencing procedure based on PCR amplification and 454 sequencing of pooled amplification products, we have retrieved the first complete mitochondrial-genome sequence of a prehistoric European. We have then compared it with 115 related extant lineages from mitochondrial haplogroup K. We found that the Iceman belonged to a branch of mitochondrial haplogroup K1 that has not yet been identified in modern European populations. This is the oldest complete Homo sapiens mtDNA genome generated to date. The results point to the potential significance of complete-ancient-mtDNA studies in addressing questions concerning the genetic history of human populations that the phylogeography of modern lineages is unable to tackle.

AB - The Tyrolean Iceman was a witness to the Neolithic-Copper Age transition in Central Europe 5350-5100 years ago, and his mummified corpse was recovered from an Alpine glacier on the Austro-Italian border in 1991 [1]. Using a mixed sequencing procedure based on PCR amplification and 454 sequencing of pooled amplification products, we have retrieved the first complete mitochondrial-genome sequence of a prehistoric European. We have then compared it with 115 related extant lineages from mitochondrial haplogroup K. We found that the Iceman belonged to a branch of mitochondrial haplogroup K1 that has not yet been identified in modern European populations. This is the oldest complete Homo sapiens mtDNA genome generated to date. The results point to the potential significance of complete-ancient-mtDNA studies in addressing questions concerning the genetic history of human populations that the phylogeography of modern lineages is unable to tackle.

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VL - 18

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ER -

Complete Mitochondrial Genome Sequence of the Tyrolean Iceman

Abstract

Keywords

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