Old wild wolves: ancient DNA survey unveils population dynamics in Late Pleistocene and Holocene Italian remains.
Ancient DNA
Canid
Canis lupus
Control region
HVR1 variability
Italian wolf
Population genetics
Wolf
mtDNA
Journal
PeerJ
ISSN: 2167-8359
Titre abrégé: PeerJ
Pays: United States
ID NLM: 101603425
Informations de publication
Date de publication:
2019
2019
Historique:
received:
26
03
2018
accepted:
07
01
2019
entrez:
5
4
2019
pubmed:
5
4
2019
medline:
5
4
2019
Statut:
epublish
Résumé
The contemporary Italian wolf ( In order to shed light on the ancient genetic variability of this wolf population and on the origin of its current diversity, we collected 19 Late Pleistocene-Holocene samples from northern Italy, which we analyzed at a short portion of the hypervariable region 1 of the mitochondrial DNA, highly informative for wolf and dog phylogenetic analyses. Four out of the six detected haplotypes matched the ones found in ancient wolves from northern Europe and Beringia, or in modern European and Chinese wolves, and appeared closely related to the two haplotypes currently found in Italian wolves. The haplotype of two Late Pleistocene samples matched with primitive and contemporary dog sequences from the canine mitochondrial clade A. All these haplotypes belonged to haplogroup 2. The only exception was a Holocene sample dated 3,250 years ago, affiliated to haplogroup 1. In this study we describe the genetic variability of the most ancient wolf specimens from Italy analyzed so far, providing a preliminary overview of the genetic make-up of the population that inhabited this area from the last glacial maximum to the Middle Age period. Our results endorsed that the genetic diversity carried by the Pleistocene wolves here analyzed showed a strong continuity with other northern Eurasian wolf specimens from the same chronological period. Contrarily, the Holocene samples showed a greater similarity only with modern sequences from Europe and Asia, and the occurrence of an haplogroup 1 haplotype allowed to date back previous finding about its presence in this area. Moreover, the unexpected discovery of a 24,700-year-old sample carrying a haplotype that, from the fragment here obtained, falls within the canine clade A, could represent the oldest evidence in Europe of such dog-rich clade. All these findings suggest complex population dynamics that deserve to be further investigated based on mitochondrial or whole genome sequencing.
Sections du résumé
BACKGROUND
BACKGROUND
The contemporary Italian wolf (
METHODS
METHODS
In order to shed light on the ancient genetic variability of this wolf population and on the origin of its current diversity, we collected 19 Late Pleistocene-Holocene samples from northern Italy, which we analyzed at a short portion of the hypervariable region 1 of the mitochondrial DNA, highly informative for wolf and dog phylogenetic analyses.
RESULTS
RESULTS
Four out of the six detected haplotypes matched the ones found in ancient wolves from northern Europe and Beringia, or in modern European and Chinese wolves, and appeared closely related to the two haplotypes currently found in Italian wolves. The haplotype of two Late Pleistocene samples matched with primitive and contemporary dog sequences from the canine mitochondrial clade A. All these haplotypes belonged to haplogroup 2. The only exception was a Holocene sample dated 3,250 years ago, affiliated to haplogroup 1.
DISCUSSION
CONCLUSIONS
In this study we describe the genetic variability of the most ancient wolf specimens from Italy analyzed so far, providing a preliminary overview of the genetic make-up of the population that inhabited this area from the last glacial maximum to the Middle Age period. Our results endorsed that the genetic diversity carried by the Pleistocene wolves here analyzed showed a strong continuity with other northern Eurasian wolf specimens from the same chronological period. Contrarily, the Holocene samples showed a greater similarity only with modern sequences from Europe and Asia, and the occurrence of an haplogroup 1 haplotype allowed to date back previous finding about its presence in this area. Moreover, the unexpected discovery of a 24,700-year-old sample carrying a haplotype that, from the fragment here obtained, falls within the canine clade A, could represent the oldest evidence in Europe of such dog-rich clade. All these findings suggest complex population dynamics that deserve to be further investigated based on mitochondrial or whole genome sequencing.
Identifiants
pubmed: 30944772
doi: 10.7717/peerj.6424
pii: 6424
pmc: PMC6441319
doi:
Types de publication
Journal Article
Langues
eng
Pagination
e6424Déclaration de conflit d'intérêts
Davide Palumbo is a zoologist consultant for Ente di Gestione per i Parchi e la Biodiversità Emilia Orientale. Marco Galaverni is an employee at the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), Conservation Unit—Italy.
Références
Mol Ecol. 1999 Dec;8(12):2089-103
pubmed: 10632860
Science. 2000 Aug 18;289(5482):1139
pubmed: 10970224
Mol Biol Evol. 2001 Feb;18(2):262-5
pubmed: 11158385
Nat Rev Genet. 2001 May;2(5):353-9
pubmed: 11331901
Bioinformatics. 2001 Aug;17(8):754-5
pubmed: 11524383
Mol Ecol. 2001 Dec;10(12):2787-98
pubmed: 11903892
Science. 2002 Nov 22;298(5598):1613-6
pubmed: 12446908
Mol Ecol. 2004 Mar;13(3):523-36
pubmed: 14871358
Mol Ecol. 2004 Aug;13(8):2481-90
pubmed: 15245420
Mol Ecol. 2005 Jan;14(1):9-17
pubmed: 15643947
BMC Genet. 2005 Feb 08;6:6
pubmed: 15701179
Mol Biol Evol. 2005 Dec;22(12):2541-51
pubmed: 16120801
Trends Ecol Evol. 2005 Oct;20(10):541-4
pubmed: 16701432
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2006 Sep 12;103(37):13578-84
pubmed: 16938852
Curr Biol. 2007 Jul 3;17(13):1146-50
pubmed: 17583509
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2007 Sep 11;104(37):14616-21
pubmed: 17715061
Mol Ecol. 2007 Oct;16(19):4149-70
pubmed: 17725575
Bioinformatics. 2009 Jun 1;25(11):1451-2
pubmed: 19346325
Nature. 2010 Apr 8;464(7290):898-902
pubmed: 20237475
BMC Evol Biol. 2010 Apr 21;10:104
pubmed: 20409299
Ann Anat. 2012 Jan 20;194(1):3-6
pubmed: 21514120
Genome Res. 2011 Aug;21(8):1294-305
pubmed: 21566151
Bioinformatics. 2012 Apr 15;28(8):1166-7
pubmed: 22368248
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2012 Jun 5;109(23):8878-83
pubmed: 22615366
Nat Methods. 2012 Jul 30;9(8):772
pubmed: 22847109
Cold Spring Harb Perspect Biol. 2013 Jul 01;5(7):null
pubmed: 23729639
Science. 2013 Nov 15;342(6160):871-4
pubmed: 24233726
Heredity (Edinb). 2014 Apr;112(4):428-42
pubmed: 24346500
PLoS Genet. 2014 Jan;10(1):e1004016
pubmed: 24453982
Science. 2014 Dec 19;346(6216):1517-9
pubmed: 25525247
Curr Biol. 2015 Jun 1;25(11):1515-9
pubmed: 26004765
Nature. 2015 Jun 11;522(7555):167-72
pubmed: 26062507
Genome Res. 2016 Feb;26(2):163-73
pubmed: 26680994
Mol Biol Evol. 2016 Jul;33(7):1870-4
pubmed: 27004904
Science. 2016 Jun 3;352(6290):1228-31
pubmed: 27257259
PLoS One. 2017 May 10;12(5):e0176560
pubmed: 28489863
BMC Genet. 2017 Jun 26;18(1):60
pubmed: 28651548
Nat Commun. 2017 Jul 18;8:16082
pubmed: 28719574
Ann Hum Biol. 2018 Feb;45(1):34-43
pubmed: 29216758
Syst Biol. 2018 Sep 1;67(5):901-904
pubmed: 29718447
Heredity (Edinb). 1993 Nov;71 ( Pt 5):516-22
pubmed: 8276634
J Forensic Sci. 1997 Jul;42(4):593-600
pubmed: 9243824