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Grathwol F, Roos C, Zinner D, Hume B, Porcier SM, Berthet D, Cuisin J, Merker S, Ottoni C, Van Neer W, Dominy NJ, Kopp GH. Adulis and the transshipment of baboons during classical antiquity. eLife 2023; 12:e87513. [PMID: 37767965 PMCID: PMC10597581 DOI: 10.7554/elife.87513] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/07/2023] [Accepted: 09/27/2023] [Indexed: 09/29/2023] Open
Abstract
Adulis, located on the Red Sea coast in present-day Eritrea, was a bustling trading centre between the first and seventh centuries CE. Several classical geographers-Agatharchides of Cnidus, Pliny the Elder, Strabo-noted the value of Adulis to Greco-Roman Egypt, particularly as an emporium for living animals, including baboons (Papio spp.). Though fragmentary, these accounts predict the Adulite origins of mummified baboons in Ptolemaic catacombs, while inviting questions on the geoprovenance of older (Late Period) baboons recovered from Gabbanat el-Qurud ('Valley of the Monkeys'), Egypt. Dated to ca. 800-540 BCE, these animals could extend the antiquity of Egyptian-Adulite trade by as much as five centuries. Previously, Dominy et al. (2020) used stable isotope analysis to show that two New Kingdom specimens of Papio hamadryas originate from the Horn of Africa. Here, we report the complete mitochondrial genomes from a mummified baboon from Gabbanat el-Qurud and 14 museum specimens with known provenance together with published georeferenced mitochondrial sequence data. Phylogenetic assignment connects the mummified baboon to modern populations of P. hamadryas in Eritrea, Ethiopia, and eastern Sudan. This result, assuming geographical stability of phylogenetic clades, corroborates Greco-Roman historiographies by pointing toward present-day Eritrea, and by extension Adulis, as a source of baboons for Late Period Egyptians. It also establishes geographic continuity with baboons from the fabled Land of Punt (Dominy et al., 2020), giving weight to speculation that Punt and Adulis were essentially the same trading centres separated by a thousand years of history.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Christian Roos
- Gene Bank of Primates and Primate Genetics Laboratory, German Primate Center, Leibniz Institute for Primate ResearchGöttingenGermany
| | - Dietmar Zinner
- Cognitive Ethology Laboratory, German Primate Center, Leibniz Institute for Primate ResearchGöttingenGermany
- Department of Primate Cognition, Georg-August-University of GöttingenGöttingenGermany
- Leibniz-ScienceCampus Primate CognitionGöttingenGermany
| | - Benjamin Hume
- Department of Biology, University of KonstanzKonstanzGermany
- SequAna – Sequencing Analysis Core Facility, University of KonstanzKonstanzGermany
| | - Stéphanie M Porcier
- Laboratoire CNRS ASM « Archéologie des Sociétés Méditerranéennes » (UMR 5140), Université Paul-Valéry, LabEx ArchimedeMontpellierFrance
| | | | | | - Stefan Merker
- Department of Zoology, State Museum of Natural History StuttgartStuttgartGermany
| | - Claudio Ottoni
- Centre of Molecular Anthropology for Ancient DNA Studies, Department of Biology, University of Rome Tor VergataRomeItaly
| | - Wim Van Neer
- Royal Belgian Institute of Natural SciencesBrusselsBelgium
- Department of Biology, KU LeuvenLeuvenBelgium
| | - Nathaniel J Dominy
- Departments of Anthropology and Biological Sciences, Dartmouth CollegeHanoverUnited States
- Zukunftskolleg, University of KonstanzKonstanzGermany
| | - Gisela H Kopp
- Department of Biology, University of KonstanzKonstanzGermany
- Zukunftskolleg, University of KonstanzKonstanzGermany
- Department of Migration, Max Planck Institute of Animal BehaviorKonstanzGermany
- Centre for the Advanced Study of Collective Behaviour, University of KonstanzKonstanzGermany
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Mármol-Sánchez E, Fromm B, Oskolkov N, Pochon Z, Kalogeropoulos P, Eriksson E, Biryukova I, Sekar V, Ersmark E, Andersson B, Dalén L, Friedländer MR. Historical RNA expression profiles from the extinct Tasmanian tiger. Genome Res 2023; 33:1299-1316. [PMID: 37463752 PMCID: PMC10552650 DOI: 10.1101/gr.277663.123] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/05/2023] [Accepted: 06/27/2023] [Indexed: 07/20/2023]
Abstract
Paleogenomics continues to yield valuable insights into the evolution, population dynamics, and ecology of our ancestors and other extinct species. However, DNA sequencing cannot reveal tissue-specific gene expression, cellular identity, or gene regulation, which are only attainable at the transcriptional level. Pioneering studies have shown that useful RNA can be extracted from ancient specimens preserved in permafrost and historical skins from extant canids, but no attempts have been made so far on extinct species. We extract, sequence, and analyze historical RNA from muscle and skin tissue of a ∼130-year-old Tasmanian tiger (Thylacinus cynocephalus) preserved in desiccation at room temperature in a museum collection. The transcriptional profiles closely resemble those of extant species, revealing specific anatomical features such as slow muscle fibers or blood infiltration. Metatranscriptomic analysis, RNA damage, tissue-specific RNA profiles, and expression hotspots genome-wide further confirm the thylacine origin of the sequences. RNA sequences are used to improve protein-coding and noncoding annotations, evidencing missing exonic loci and the location of ribosomal RNA genes while increasing the number of annotated thylacine microRNAs from 62 to 325. We discover a thylacine-specific microRNA isoform that could not have been confirmed without RNA evidence. Finally, we detect traces of RNA viruses, suggesting the possibility of profiling viral evolution. Our results represent the first successful attempt to obtain transcriptional profiles from an extinct animal species, providing thought-to-be-lost information on gene expression dynamics. These findings hold promising implications for the study of RNA molecules across the vast collections of natural history museums and from well-preserved permafrost remains.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emilio Mármol-Sánchez
- Department of Molecular Biosciences, The Wenner-Gren Institute, Science for Life Laboratory, Stockholm University, 114 18 Stockholm, Sweden;
- Centre for Palaeogenetics, 106 91 Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Bastian Fromm
- Department of Molecular Biosciences, The Wenner-Gren Institute, Science for Life Laboratory, Stockholm University, 114 18 Stockholm, Sweden
- The Arctic University Museum of Norway, UiT - The Arctic University of Norway, 9006 Tromsø, Norway
| | - Nikolay Oskolkov
- Department of Biology, National Bioinformatics Infrastructure Sweden, Science for Life Laboratory, Lund University, 223 62 Lund, Sweden
| | - Zoé Pochon
- Centre for Palaeogenetics, 106 91 Stockholm, Sweden
- Department of Archaeology and Classical Studies, Stockholm University, 106 91 Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Panagiotis Kalogeropoulos
- Department of Molecular Biosciences, The Wenner-Gren Institute, Science for Life Laboratory, Stockholm University, 114 18 Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Eli Eriksson
- Department of Molecular Biosciences, The Wenner-Gren Institute, Science for Life Laboratory, Stockholm University, 114 18 Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Inna Biryukova
- Department of Molecular Biosciences, The Wenner-Gren Institute, Science for Life Laboratory, Stockholm University, 114 18 Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Vaishnovi Sekar
- Department of Molecular Biosciences, The Wenner-Gren Institute, Science for Life Laboratory, Stockholm University, 114 18 Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Erik Ersmark
- Centre for Palaeogenetics, 106 91 Stockholm, Sweden
- Department of Bioinformatics and Genetics, Swedish Museum of Natural History, 104 05 Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Björn Andersson
- Department of Cell and Molecular Biology (CMB), Karolinska Institute, 171 77 Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Love Dalén
- Centre for Palaeogenetics, 106 91 Stockholm, Sweden;
- Department of Bioinformatics and Genetics, Swedish Museum of Natural History, 104 05 Stockholm, Sweden
- Department of Zoology, Stockholm University, 106 91 Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Marc R Friedländer
- Department of Molecular Biosciences, The Wenner-Gren Institute, Science for Life Laboratory, Stockholm University, 114 18 Stockholm, Sweden;
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Kalds P, Zhou S, Gao Y, Cai B, Huang S, Chen Y, Wang X. Genetics of the phenotypic evolution in sheep: a molecular look at diversity-driving genes. Genet Sel Evol 2022; 54:61. [PMID: 36085023 PMCID: PMC9463822 DOI: 10.1186/s12711-022-00753-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/28/2022] [Accepted: 08/29/2022] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND After domestication, the evolution of phenotypically-varied sheep breeds has generated rich biodiversity. This wide phenotypic variation arises as a result of hidden genomic changes that range from a single nucleotide to several thousands of nucleotides. Thus, it is of interest and significance to reveal and understand the genomic changes underlying the phenotypic variation of sheep breeds in order to drive selection towards economically important traits. REVIEW Various traits contribute to the emergence of variation in sheep phenotypic characteristics, including coat color, horns, tail, wool, ears, udder, vertebrae, among others. The genes that determine most of these phenotypic traits have been investigated, which has generated knowledge regarding the genetic determinism of several agriculturally-relevant traits in sheep. In this review, we discuss the genomic knowledge that has emerged in the past few decades regarding the phenotypic traits in sheep, and our ultimate aim is to encourage its practical application in sheep breeding. In addition, in order to expand the current understanding of the sheep genome, we shed light on research gaps that require further investigation. CONCLUSIONS Although significant research efforts have been conducted in the past few decades, several aspects of the sheep genome remain unexplored. For the full utilization of the current knowledge of the sheep genome, a wide practical application is still required in order to boost sheep productive performance and contribute to the generation of improved sheep breeds. The accumulated knowledge on the sheep genome will help advance and strengthen sheep breeding programs to face future challenges in the sector, such as climate change, global human population growth, and the increasing demand for products of animal origin.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peter Kalds
- Key Laboratory of Animal Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction of Shaanxi Province, College of Animal Science and Technology, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, 712100 China
- Department of Animal and Poultry Production, Faculty of Environmental Agricultural Sciences, Arish University, El-Arish, 45511 Egypt
| | - Shiwei Zhou
- Key Laboratory of Animal Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction of Shaanxi Province, College of Animal Science and Technology, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, 712100 China
- College of Veterinary Medicine, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, 712100 China
| | - Yawei Gao
- Key Laboratory of Animal Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction of Shaanxi Province, College of Animal Science and Technology, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, 712100 China
| | - Bei Cai
- Key Laboratory of Animal Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction of Shaanxi Province, College of Animal Science and Technology, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, 712100 China
| | - Shuhong Huang
- Key Laboratory of Animal Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction of Shaanxi Province, College of Animal Science and Technology, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, 712100 China
| | - Yulin Chen
- Key Laboratory of Animal Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction of Shaanxi Province, College of Animal Science and Technology, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, 712100 China
- International Joint Agriculture Research Center for Animal Bio-Breeding, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Yangling, 712100 China
| | - Xiaolong Wang
- Key Laboratory of Animal Genetics, Breeding and Reproduction of Shaanxi Province, College of Animal Science and Technology, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, 712100 China
- International Joint Agriculture Research Center for Animal Bio-Breeding, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Yangling, 712100 China
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