Back to Search Start Over

Population genomic analysis of ancient and modern genomes yields new insights into the genetic ancestry of the Tyrolean Iceman and the genetic structure of Europe.

Authors :
Martin Sikora
Meredith L Carpenter
Andres Moreno-Estrada
Brenna M Henn
Peter A Underhill
Federico Sánchez-Quinto
Ilenia Zara
Maristella Pitzalis
Carlo Sidore
Fabio Busonero
Andrea Maschio
Andrea Angius
Chris Jones
Javier Mendoza-Revilla
Georgi Nekhrizov
Diana Dimitrova
Nikola Theodossiev
Timothy T Harkins
Andreas Keller
Frank Maixner
Albert Zink
Goncalo Abecasis
Serena Sanna
Francesco Cucca
Carlos D Bustamante
Source :
PLoS Genetics, Vol 10, Iss 5, p e1004353 (2014)
Publication Year :
2014
Publisher :
Public Library of Science (PLoS), 2014.

Abstract

Genome sequencing of the 5,300-year-old mummy of the Tyrolean Iceman, found in 1991 on a glacier near the border of Italy and Austria, has yielded new insights into his origin and relationship to modern European populations. A key finding of that study was an apparent recent common ancestry with individuals from Sardinia, based largely on the Y chromosome haplogroup and common autosomal SNP variation. Here, we compiled and analyzed genomic datasets from both modern and ancient Europeans, including genome sequence data from over 400 Sardinians and two ancient Thracians from Bulgaria, to investigate this result in greater detail and determine its implications for the genetic structure of Neolithic Europe. Using whole-genome sequencing data, we confirm that the Iceman is, indeed, most closely related to Sardinians. Furthermore, we show that this relationship extends to other individuals from cultural contexts associated with the spread of agriculture during the Neolithic transition, in contrast to individuals from a hunter-gatherer context. We hypothesize that this genetic affinity of ancient samples from different parts of Europe with Sardinians represents a common genetic component that was geographically widespread across Europe during the Neolithic, likely related to migrations and population expansions associated with the spread of agriculture.

Subjects

Subjects :
Genetics
QH426-470

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
15537390 and 15537404
Volume :
10
Issue :
5
Database :
Directory of Open Access Journals
Journal :
PLoS Genetics
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
edsdoj.b5bbf105664b4daf83ea8d4ab7feb9bc
Document Type :
article
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1004353