1. Exceptional ancient DNA preservation and fibre remains of a Sasanian saltmine sheep mummy in Chehrābād, Iran
- Author
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Marjan Mashkour, Homa Fathi, Andrew J. Hare, Thomas Stöllner, Valeria Mattiangeli, Zahra Lorzadeh, Hossein Davoudi, Roya Khazaeli, Conor Rossi, Kevin G. Daly, Gabriela Ruß-Popa, Haeedeh Laleh, Abolfazl Aali, Fionnuala McDaid, Matthew D. Teasdale, Archéozoologie, archéobotanique : sociétés, pratiques et environnements (AASPE), Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Rossi, Conor [0000-0003-4561-8878], Ruß-Popa, Gabriela [0000-0001-8492-6238], Mattiangeli, Valeria [0000-0001-9785-1714], Hare, Andrew J. [0000-0001-8595-6965], Davoudi, Hossein [0000-0002-5236-1444], Fathi, Homa [0000-0002-1764-0130], Teasdale, Matthew D. [0000-0002-7376-9975], A'ali, Abolfazl [0000-0002-6621-8665], Mashkour, Marjan [0000-0003-3630-9459], Daly, Kevin G. [0000-0002-5579-6144], Apollo - University of Cambridge Repository, and Teasdale, Matthew [0000-0002-7376-9975]
- Subjects
0106 biological sciences ,sheep ,Taphonomy ,[SHS.ARCHEO]Humanities and Social Sciences/Archaeology and Prehistory ,Population genetics ,Population ,Zoology ,Locus (genetics) ,Iran ,010603 evolutionary biology ,01 natural sciences ,Genome ,03 medical and health sciences ,0302 clinical medicine ,Research articles ,Animals ,Allele ,DNA, Ancient ,education ,Genotyping ,ancient DNA ,030304 developmental biology ,2. Zero hunger ,0303 health sciences ,education.field_of_study ,[SDV.GEN]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Genetics ,biology ,Mummies ,biology.organism_classification ,Agricultural and Biological Sciences (miscellaneous) ,mummy ,Ancient DNA ,Phenotype ,Metagenomics ,Evolutionary biology ,[SDE]Environmental Sciences ,General Agricultural and Biological Sciences ,030217 neurology & neurosurgery ,Archaea - Abstract
International audience; Mummified remains have long attracted interest as a potential source of ancient DNA. However, mummification is a rare process that requires an anhydrous environment to rapidly dehydrate and preserve tissue before complete decomposition occurs. We present the whole-genome sequences (3.94 X) of an approximately 1600-year-old naturally mummified sheep recovered from Chehrābād, a salt mine in northwestern Iran. Comparative analyses of published ancient sequences revealed the remarkable DNA integrity of this mummy. Hallmarks of postmortem damage, fragmentation and hydrolytic deamination are substantially reduced, likely owing to the high salinity of this taphonomic environment. Metagenomic analyses reflect the profound influence of high-salt content on decomposition; its microbial profile is predominated by halophilic archaea and bacteria, possibly contributing to the remarkable preservation of the sample. Applying population genomic analyses, we find clustering of this sheep with Southwest Asian modern breeds, suggesting ancestry continuity. Genotyping of a locus influencing the woolly phenotype showed the presence of an ancestral ‘hairy’ allele, consistent with hair fibre imaging. This, along with derived alleles associated with the fat-tail phenotype, provides genetic evidence that Sasanian-period Iranians maintained specialized sheep flocks for different uses, with the ‘hairy’, ‘fat-tailed’-genotyped sheep likely kept by the rural community of Chehrābād's miners.
- Published
- 2021