October 26, 2008

Ancient mtDNA from Jomon skeletons

American Journal of Physical Anthropology doi: 10.1002/ajpa.20923

Mitochondrial DNA analysis of Jomon skeletons from the Funadomari site, Hokkaido, and its implication for the origins of Native American

Noburu Adachi et al.

Abstract

Ancient DNA recovered from 16 Jomon skeletons excavated from Funadomari site, Hokkaido, Japan was analyzed to elucidate the genealogy of the early settlers of the Japanese archipelago. Both the control and coding regions of their mitochondrial DNA were analyzed in detail, and we could securely assign 14 mtDNAs to relevant haplogroups. Haplogroups D1a, M7a, and N9b were observed in these individuals, and N9b was by far the most predominant. The fact that haplogroups N9b and M7a were observed in Hokkaido Jomons bore out the hypothesis that these haplogroups are the (pre-) Jomon contribution to the modern Japanese mtDNA pool. Moreover, the fact that Hokkaido Jomons shared haplogroup D1 with Native Americans validates the hypothesized genetic affinity of the Jomon people to Native Americans, providing direct evidence for the genetic relationships between these populations. However, probably due to the small sample size or close consanguinity among the members of the site, the frequencies of the haplogroups in Funadomari skeletons were quite different from any modern populations, including Hokkaido Ainu, who have been regarded as the direct descendant of the Hokkaido Jomon people. It appears that the genetic study of ancient populations in northern part of Japan brings important information to the understanding of human migration in northeast Asia and America.

Link

2 comments:

Ebizur said...

"Abstracts of AAPA Poster and Podium Presentations

Mitochondrial DNA analysis of the Jomon and Epi-Jomon individuals in Hokkaido, Japan.

N. Adachi1, K. Shinoda2, K. Umetsu3, Y. Dodo1. 1Department of Anatomy and Anthropology, Tohoku University School of Medicine, 2Department of Anthropology, National Science Museum, Tokyo, 3Department of Experimental and Forensic Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, Yamagata University.



In the present study, we examined the genealogy of the seventy-six Jomon and Epi-Jomon skeletons excavated in Hokkaido, Japan by mitochondiral DNA analysis.

To identify their genealogy securely, we analyzed the coding region of mtDNA by using amplified product-length polymorphisms (Umetsu et al., 2001, 2005) and direct sequencing. We also sequenced the segments of two hypervariable regions of mtDNA, and assigned the mtDNA under study to relevant haplogroups using the known mtDNA databases.

Haplogroups D4, G1, M7a, and N9b were observed in the individuals, and N9b was by far the most predominant. The frequencies of the haplogroups were quite different from any modern populations including Ainu and Okinawans. Haplogroup N9b is hitherto observed almost only in Japanese populations; therefore, this haplogroup might be the (pre-) Jomon contribution to the modern Japanese mtDNA pool.
"

This earlier abstract claimed that the haplogroup D mtDNAs found in the Hokkaido Jomon samples were D4, not D1. They also said that they had found G1 mtDNAs there, too. I'd like to hear an explanation for the drastic changes that have been wrought between the writing of the above abstract and the publication of the present study.

As for haplogroup N9, it includes the subclades N9a, N9b, and Y, this last one being the most common mtDNA haplogroup among modern Nivkhs and Ainus, while also occurring especially among other circum-Okhotsk populations (Evens, Koryaks, Itelmens, etc.) and at lower frequency among Koreans, Chinese, and South Siberians (Buryats, Tuvans, etc.). The highest diversity of haplogroup Y is supposed to occur in northern China: "The geographic distribution of subhaplogroup
Y is predominantly in Northeast Asia. The highest
frequency (22%) is in the Ainu, although only one lineage accounts
for this frequency. The greatest diversities are in northern
China (80%), and this group is also very diverse in the Nivkhs
from northeast Siberia (Torroni et al. 1993a)." One of haplogroup Y's sister haplogroups, N9b, is a typically Japanese Archipelagic haplogroup, being found among mainstream Japanese, Ryukyuans, and Ainus and almost nowhere else except for a few observations in southern China and Korea. Haplogroup Y's other sister haplogroup, N9a, is a typically East Asian haplogroup, being found especially among populations in China and Korea.

tomee said...

A N1a mtDNA mitochondrium was detected by a medieval high-social status hungarian person who lived in the 10th-11th centuries. However it was seen rare haplogroup in worldwide.