Mesolithic populations throughout Europe used diverse resource exploitation strategies that focused heavily on collecting and hunting wild prey. Between 5500 and 4200 cal BC, agriculturalists ...migrated into northwestern Europe bringing a suite of Neolithic technologies including domesticated animals. Here we investigate to what extent Mesolithic Ertebølle communities in northern Germany had access to domestic pigs, possibly through contact with neighbouring Neolithic agricultural groups. We employ a multidisciplinary approach, applying sequencing of ancient mitochondrial and nuclear DNA (coat colour-coding gene MC1R) as well as traditional and geometric morphometric (molar size and shape) analyses in Sus specimens from 17 Neolithic and Ertebølle sites. Our data from 63 ancient pig specimens show that Ertebølle hunter-gatherers acquired domestic pigs of varying size and coat colour that had both Near Eastern and European mitochondrial DNA ancestry. Our results also reveal that domestic pigs were present in the region ~500 years earlier than previously demonstrated.
Highlights • Inconspicuous skin lesions can be associated with severe internal injuries. • Molecular genetic methods can elucidate cases of impalement. • Clinical forensic examinations supplement ...medical treatment.
Nonrecombining Y-chromosomal microsatellites (Y-STRs) are widely used to infer population histories, discover genealogical relationships, and identify males for criminal justice purposes. Although a ...key requirement for their application is reliable mutability knowledge, empirical data are only available for a small number of Y-STRs thus far. To rectify this, we analyzed a large number of 186 Y-STR markers in nearly 2000 DNA-confirmed father-son pairs, covering an overall number of 352,999 meiotic transfers. Following confirmation by DNA sequence analysis, the retrieved mutation data were modeled via a Bayesian approach, resulting in mutation rates from 3.78 × 10−4 (95% credible interval CI, 1.38 × 10−5 − 2.02 × 10−3) to 7.44 × 10−2 (95% CI, 6.51 × 10−2 − 9.09 × 10−2) per marker per generation. With the 924 mutations at 120 Y-STR markers, a nonsignificant excess of repeat losses versus gains (1.16:1), as well as a strong and significant excess of single-repeat versus multirepeat changes (25.23:1), was observed. Although the total repeat number influenced Y-STR locus mutability most strongly, repeat complexity, the length in base pairs of the repeated motif, and the father's age also contributed to Y-STR mutability. To exemplify how to practically utilize this knowledge, we analyzed the 13 most mutable Y-STRs in an independent sample set and empirically proved their suitability for distinguishing close and distantly related males. This finding is expected to revolutionize Y-chromosomal applications in forensic biology, from previous male lineage differentiation toward future male individual identification.
Child sexual offending (CSO) places a serious burden on society and medicine and pedophilia (P) is considered a major risk factor for CSO. The androgen system is closely linked to sexual development ...and behavior. This study assessed markers of prenatal brain androgenization, genetic parameters of androgen receptor function, epigenetic regulation, and peripheral hormones in a 2 × 2 factorial design comprising the factors Offense (yes/no) and Pedophilia (yes/no) in analyzing blood samples from 194 subjects (57 P+CSO, 45 P-CSO, 20 CSO-P, and 72 controls) matched for age and intelligence. Subjects also received a comprehensive clinical screening. Independent of their sexual preference, child sexual offenders showed signs of elevated prenatal androgen exposure compared with non-offending pedophiles and controls. The methylation status of the androgen receptor gene was also higher in child sexual offenders, indicating lower functionality of the testosterone system, accompanied by lower peripheral testosterone levels. In addition, there was an interaction effect on methylation levels between offense status and androgen receptor functionality. Notably, markers of prenatal androgenization and the methylation status of the androgen receptor gene were correlated with the total number of sexual offenses committed. This study demonstrates alterations of the androgen system on a prenatal, epigenetic, and endocrine level. None of the major findings was specific for pedophilia, but they were for CSO. The findings support theories of testosterone-linked abnormalities in early brain development in delinquent behavior and suggest possible interactions of testosterone receptor gene methylation and plasma testosterone with environmental factors.
In their critique of our paper (Krause-Kyora et al. 2013), Rowley-Conwy and Zeder focus on two primary issues. Firstly, they discuss issues associated with the terminology and definitions of animal ...domestication. Secondly, they question the techniques we employed to explore it. While we completely agree with their points related to terminology, we feel they have misunderstood both the principals and application of shape analyses using geometric morphometrics, and that this misunderstanding undermines their criticism. Having said that, and though our differences are easily overstated, our respective interpretations of the data presented in Krause-Kyora et al. (2013) overlap significantly.
The affiliations. Originally, Kolja Schilz was named last in the affiliations, implying that he is the senior author. This has been corrected; Kolja Schilz is now mentioned after Martin Walter in ...both the html and PDF versions of the article.
Eleven X-chromosomal STRs from two multiplex PCR approaches (DXS6807, DXS8378, DXS7132, DXS6800, DXS9898, DXS7424, DXS101, DXS7133, HPRTB, DXS8377, and DXS7423), located in four different ...X-chromosomal linkage groups, were typed in two population samples from Africa, Morocco, and Madagascar. Forensic efficiency parameters such as polymorphism information content and mean exclusion chance were calculated. A deviation from the Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium could not be found. The investigation of four father–daughter and five mother–son meioses (from Morocco) revealed no mutations in any STR analyzed. Our data were compared with European, African-American, and Asian populations from the literature.
Purpose
Cell authentication is a necessary procedure to avoid scientific data from cell culture experiments with cross-contamination or false classification. A genetic fingerprint pattern of a ...specimen by short tandem repeats (STR) is self-evident. Due to high amount of chromosomal rearrangements, known in epithelia ovary cancer cells and the instable STR pattern described in other tumour entities like leukaemia, this study explores the suitability of STR profiling for primary cultured epithelial ovary cancer cells.
Methods
STR profiles of epithelial ovary cancers of 16 patients were compared with corresponding blood and corresponding primary cell cultures. The primary cell cultures of epithelial ovary tumours were passaged up to 28 times. In between, cultures were cryo conserved and recultured again, two to five times per patient.
Results
In two cases, the STR pattern of tumour lost alleles (1/16 and 3/16) in comparison of corresponding STR-pattern from blood. In comparison to blood, cell culture of a third case, lost four alleles (4/16) accompanied with morphologic changes after 14th passage. It is equal after cryo conservation of the seventh passage from the same patient. The only changes in STR profiles we recognized are losses of alleles. Remaining STR markers allow authentication.
Conclusions
Very likely, the allelic drop-outs beyond passage 14 assume complex genetic losses of heterozygosis resulting in changed growth behaviour of cells. All other STR-profiles of remaining 15 patients analysed in this study are stable over all passages and freeze–thaw processes. Thus, ovary cancer cell cultures in research should be authenticated by STR-profile in general.
Genetic studies of Neolithic groups in central Europe have provided insights into the demographic processes that have occurred during the initial transition to agriculture as well as in later ...Neolithic contexts. While distinct genetic patterns between indigenous hunter-gatherers and Neolithic farmers in Europe have been observed, it is still under discussion how the genetic diversity changed during the 5,000-year span of the Neolithic period. In order to investigate genetic patterns after the earliest farming communities, we carried out an ancient mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis of 34 individuals from Wittmar, Germany representing three different Neolithic farming groups (ca. 5,200–4,300 cal
bc
) including Rössen societies. Ancient DNA analysis was successful for six individuals associated with the Middle Neolithic Rössen and observed haplotypes were assigned to mtDNA haplogroups H5, HV0, U5, and K. Our results offer perspectives on the genetic composition of individuals associated with the Rössen culture at Wittmar and permit insights into genetic landscapes in central Europe at a time when regional groups first emerged during the Middle Neolithic.
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