Di Bernardo G, Galderisi U, Del Gaudio S, D'Aniello A, Lanave C, De Robertis M T, Cascino Antonino, Cipollaro M
Dipartimento di Medicina Sperimentale, Sezione di Biotecnologie e Biologia Molecolare and C.R.I.S.C.E.B., 2a Università degli Studi di Napoli, Naples, Italy.
J Cell Physiol. 2004 May;199(2):200-5. doi: 10.1002/jcp.10461.
DNA extracted from the skeletons of five equids discovered in a Pompeii stable and of a horse found in Herculaneum was investigated. Amino acid racemization level was consistent with the presence of DNA. Post-mortem base modifications were excluded by sequencing a 146 bp fragment of the 16S rRNA mitochondrial gene. Sequencing of a 370 bp fragment of mitochondrial (mt)DNA control region allowed the construction of a phylogenetic tree that, along with sequencing of nuclear genes (epsilon globin, gamma interferon, and p53) fragments, gave us the possibility to address some questions puzzling archaeologists. What animals-donkeys, horses, or crossbreeds-were they? And, given they had been evidently assigned to one specific job, were they all akin or were they animals with different mitochondrial haplotypes? The conclusions provided by molecular analysis show that the Pompeii remains are those of horses and mules. Furthermore one of the equids (CAV5) seems to belong to a haplotype, which is either not yet documented in the GenBank or has since disappeared. As its characteristics closely recall those of donkeys, which is the out group chosen to construct the tree, that appears to have evolved within the Equidae family much earlier than horses, this assumption seems to be nearer the truth.
对从庞贝城一个马厩中发现的五匹Equidae动物骨骼以及在赫库兰尼姆发现的一匹马的骨骼中提取的DNA进行了研究。氨基酸消旋化水平与DNA的存在情况相符。通过对线粒体16S rRNA基因的一个146 bp片段进行测序，排除了死后碱基修饰的可能性。对线粒体（mt）DNA控制区的一个370 bp片段进行测序，构建了一个系统发育树，结合核基因（ε珠蛋白、γ干扰素和p53）片段的测序，使我们能够回答一些困扰考古学家的问题。它们是什么动物——驴、马还是杂交种？而且，鉴于它们显然被分配了一项特定的工作，它们都是近亲还是具有不同线粒体单倍型的动物？分子分析得出的结论表明，庞贝城的遗骸是马和骡子的。此外，其中一匹Equidae动物（CAV5）似乎属于一种单倍型，这种单倍型要么在GenBank中尚未有记录，要么此后已经消失。由于它的特征与驴非常相似，而驴是构建系统发育树时选择的外类群，驴似乎比马在马科家族中进化得更早，所以这个假设似乎更接近事实。
