Neanderthal and Denisovan ancestry in Papuans: A functional study.

Akkuratov EE, Gelfand MS, Khrameeva EE

J Bioinform Comput Biol 16 (2) 1840011 [2018-04-00; online 2018-05-10]

Sequencing of complete nuclear genomes of Neanderthal and Denisovan stimulated studies about their relationship with modern humans demonstrating, in particular, that DNA alleles from both Neanderthal and Denisovan genomes are present in genomes of modern humans. The Papuan genome is a unique object because it contains both Neanderthal and Denisovan alleles. Here, we have shown that the Papuan genomes contain different gene functional groups inherited from each of the ancient people. The Papuan genomes demonstrate a relative prevalence of Neanderthal alleles in genes responsible for the regulation of transcription and neurogenesis. The enrichment of specific functional groups with Denisovan alleles is less pronounced; these groups are responsible for bone and tissue remodeling. This analysis shows that introgression of alleles from Neanderthals and Denisovans to Papuans occurred independently and retention of these alleles may carry specific adaptive advantages.

Affiliated researcher

PubMed 29739306

DOI 10.1142/S0219720018400115

Crossref 10.1142/S0219720018400115


Publications 9.5.0