Denisovan admixture facilitated environmental adaptation in Papua New Guinean populations

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Yermakovich, Danat; Andre, Mathilde; Brucato, Nicolas; Kariwiga, Jason; Leavesley, Matthew; Pankratov, Vasili; Mondal, Mayukh; Ricaut, Francois Xavier; Dannemann, Michael
• 署名单位: University of Tartu; Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS); Universite de Toulouse; Universite Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier; Institut de Recherche pour le Developpement (IRD); University of Papua New Guinea; University of Queensland; James Cook University; James Cook University; University of Kiel
• 刊物名称: PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0027-11611
• DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2405889121
• 发表日期: 2024-06-25
• 关键词: coverage neanderthal genome; modern humans; gene; introgression; sequence; HISTORY; dna; pleistocene; insights; project

摘要

Neandertals and Denisovans, having inhabited distinct regions in Eurasia and possibly Oceania for over 200,000 y, experienced ample time to adapt to diverse environmental challenges these regions presented. Among present - day human populations, Papua New Guineans (PNG) stand out as one of the few carrying substantial amounts of both Neandertal and Denisovan DNA, a result of past admixture events with these archaic human groups. This study investigates the distribution of introgressed Denisovan and Neandertal DNA within two distinct PNG populations, residing in the highlands of Mt Wilhelm and the lowlands of Daru Island. These locations exhibit unique environmental features, some of which may parallel the challenges that archaic humans once confronted and adapted to. Our results show that PNG highlanders carry higher levels of Denisovan DNA compared to PNG lowlanders. Among the Denisovan - like haplotypes with higher frequencies in highlander populations, those exhibiting the greatest frequency difference compared to lowlander populations also demonstrate more pronounced differences in population frequencies than frequency - matched nonarchaic variants. Two of the five most highly differentiated of those haplotypes reside in genomic areas linked to brain development genes. Conversely, Denisovan - like haplotypes more frequent in lowlanders overlap with genes associated with immune response processes. Our findings suggest that Denisovan DNA has provided genetic variation associated with brain biology and immune response to PNG genomes, some of which might have facilitated adaptive processes to environmental challenges.