大約4萬年前,，克魯麥農(nóng)人從非洲來到歐洲，成了歐洲人的祖先,。之所以將克魯麥農(nóng)人看成歐洲人的祖先,，是因為他們的骨架解剖特征和現(xiàn)代歐洲人差不多。如今,，一支基因科學家小組研究其基因后表明,，2.8萬年前來自意大利南部的單個克魯麥農(nóng)人的基因和解剖學特征與現(xiàn)代歐洲人相同，這進一步證明克魯麥農(nóng)人就是歐洲人的祖先,。
4.5萬至1萬年前生活在歐洲的克魯麥農(nóng)人和尼安德特人（Neandertal）在歐洲共同生活了很長時間,，然而，尼安德特人的解剖特征和基因明顯不同于我們現(xiàn)代人,。不過,，獲得克魯麥農(nóng)人的基因卻是一項技術挑戰(zhàn)，負責此項研究的費拉拉和佛羅倫薩大學的桂多?巴布加尼說：“研究遠古個體的風險就是擔心化石樣本的DNA會被考古學家和生物學家磨損殆盡,。為避免這樣,，我們對骨頭化石進行了所有相位的修復，從而確定了所有和他們接觸過的人的DNA排序,。”
此研究結(jié)果發(fā)表在最新出版的《公共科學圖書館 綜合》（PLoS ONE）雜志上,。研究人員在文章中寫道：“此單個克魯麥農(nóng)人攜帶mtDNA排序，mtDNA在現(xiàn)代歐洲人中普遍存在,，而尼安德特人則不具備,，證明2.8萬年前歐洲人的系譜是從克魯麥農(nóng)人進化到現(xiàn)代歐洲人的。”
此結(jié)果首次證實克魯麥農(nóng)人和尼安德特人具有不同的解剖特征和遺傳差異,。因此在歐洲生活了近30萬年的尼安德特人并不是現(xiàn)代歐洲人的祖先,。（生物谷Bioon.com）
生物谷推薦原始出處：
PLoS ONE，doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0002700,，David Caramelli,，Guido Barbujani
A 28,000 Years Old Cro-Magnon mtDNA Sequence Differs from All Potentially Contaminating Modern Sequences
David Caramelli1, Lucio Milani1, Stefania Vai1,2, Alessandra Modi1, Elena Pecchioli3, Matteo Girardi3, Elena Pilli1, Martina Lari1, Barbara Lippi4, Annamaria Ronchitelli5, Francesco Mallegni4, Antonella Casoli6, Giorgio Bertorelle2, Guido Barbujani2*
1 Dipartimento di Biologia Evoluzionistica, Università di Firenze, Firenze, Italy2 Dipartimento di Biologia ed Evoluzione , Università di Ferrara, Ferrara, Italy3 Centro di Ecologia Alpina Fondazione Edmund Mach, Viote del Monte Bondone, Trento, Italy4 Dipartimento di Biologia, Università di Pisa, Pisa, Italy5 Dipartimento di Dipartimento di Scienze Ambientali , Università di Siena, Siena, Italy6 Dipartimento di Chimica Generale e Inorganica, Chimica Analitica, Chimica Fisica, Università di Parma, Parma, Italy
Abstract
Background
DNA sequences from ancient speciments may in fact result from undetected contamination of the ancient specimens by modern DNA, and the problem is particularly challenging in studies of human fossils. Doubts on the authenticity of the available sequences have so far hampered genetic comparisons between anatomically archaic (Neandertal) and early modern (Cro-Magnoid) Europeans.
Methodology/Principal Findings
We typed the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) hypervariable region I in a 28,000 years old Cro-Magnoid individual from the Paglicci cave, in Italy (Paglicci 23) and in all the people who had contact with the sample since its discovery in 2003. The Paglicci 23 sequence, determined through the analysis of 152 clones, is the Cambridge reference sequence, and cannot possibly reflect contamination because it differs from all potentially contaminating modern sequences.
Conclusions/Significance:
The Paglicci 23 individual carried a mtDNA sequence that is still common in Europe, and which radically differs from those of the almost contemporary Neandertals, demonstrating a genealogical continuity across 28,000 years, from Cro-Magnoid to modern Europeans. Because all potential sources of modern DNA contamination are known, the Paglicci 23 sample will offer a unique opportunity to get insight for the first time into the nuclear genes of early modern Europeans.
