Ancient DNA of the Don-Hares Assumes the Existence of Two Distinct Mitochondrial Clades in Northeast Asia

Fedor Sharko; Natalia Slobodova; Eugenia Boulygina; Maksim Cheprasov; Maria Gladysheva-Azgari; Svetlana Tsygankova; Sergey Rastorguev; Gavril Novgorodov; Gennady Boeskorov; Lena Grigorieva; Woo Suk Hwang; Alexei Tikhonov; Artem Nedoluzhko

doi:10.3390/genes14030700

Ancient DNA of the Don-Hares Assumes the Existence of Two Distinct Mitochondrial Clades in Northeast Asia

Genes (Basel). 2023 Mar 12;14(3):700. doi: 10.3390/genes14030700.

Authors

Fedor Sharko^{1

2}, Natalia Slobodova^{2

3}, Eugenia Boulygina², Maksim Cheprasov^{4

5}, Maria Gladysheva-Azgari², Svetlana Tsygankova², Sergey Rastorguev⁶, Gavril Novgorodov⁴, Gennady Boeskorov⁷, Lena Grigorieva⁸, Woo Suk Hwang^{9

10}, Alexei Tikhonov^{4

11}, Artem Nedoluzhko¹²

Affiliations

¹ Research Center of Biotechnology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 119071 Moscow, Russia.
² Kurchatov Center for Genomic Research, National Research Centre "Kurchatov Institute", 123182 Moscow, Russia.
³ Faculty of Biology and Biotechnology, HSE University, 101000 Moscow, Russia.
⁴ Lazarev Mammoth Museum, M.K. Ammosov North-Eastern Federal University, 677000 Yakutsk, Russia.
⁵ Federal Research Centre "The Yakut Scientific Centre of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences", 677980 Yakutsk, Russia.
⁶ Laboratory of Experimental Embryology, Institute of Translational Medicine, Pirogov Russian National Research Medical University, 117997 Moscow, Russia.
⁷ Institute of Diamond and Precious Metals Geology, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 677007 Yakutsk, Russia.
⁸ Center of Molecular Paleontology, M.K. Ammosov North-Eastern Federal University, 677000 Yakutsk, Russia.
⁹ UAE Biotech Research Center, Abu Dhabi 30310, United Arab Emirates.
¹⁰ Department of Biology, North-Eastern Federal University, 677000 Yakutsk, Russia.
¹¹ Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 190121 Saint Petersburg, Russia.
¹² Paleogenomics Laboratory, European University at Saint Petersburg, 191187 Saint Petersburg, Russia.

Abstract

Paleoclimatic changes during the Pleistocene-Holocene transition is suggested as a main factor that led to species extinction, including the woolly mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius), Steller's sea cow (Hydrodamalis gigas) and the Don-hare (Lepus tanaiticus). These species inhabited the territory of Eurasia during the Holocene, but eventually went extinct. The Don-hare is an extinct species of the genus Lepus (Leporidae, Lagomorpha), which lived in the Late Pleistocene-Early Holocene in Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. For a long time, the Don-hare was considered a separate species, but at the same time, its species status was disputed, taking into account both morphological data and mitochondrial DNA. In this study, mitochondrial genomes of five Don-hares, whose remains were found on the territory of Northeastern Eurasia were reconstructed. Firstly, we confirm the phylogenetic proximity of the "young" specimens of Don-hare and mountain or white hare, and secondly, that samples older than 39 Kya form a completely distinct mitochondrial clade.

Keywords: Don-hare; Holocene; L. tanaiticus; L. timidus; Pleistocene-Holocene transition; ancient DNA; extinction; mitogenome; mountain hare; sequencing.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Animals
Asia
Cattle
DNA, Ancient
Female
Hares* / genetics
Lagomorpha* / genetics
Phylogeny

Substances

DNA, Ancient

Grants and funding

This research was funded by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (RFBR), grant number 20-29-01021. F.S. was partly supported by the state task of the Federal Research Center of Biotechnology RAS. The research of G.B. was conducted within the framework of the governmental scientific assignment of the Diamond and Precious Metals Geology Institute, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences.