Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany.
Agroengineering Department/Department of Landscape Design and Sustainable Ecosystems, Agrarian and Technological Institute, RUDN University, Moscow, Russian Federation.
Elife. 2024 Mar 15;12:RP89992. doi: 10.7554/eLife.89992.
Ancient environmental DNA (aeDNA) from lake sediments has yielded remarkable insights for the reconstruction of past ecosystems, including suggestions of late survival of extinct species. However, translocation and lateral inflow of DNA in sediments can potentially distort the stratigraphic signal of the DNA. Using three different approaches on two short lake sediment cores of the Yamal peninsula, West Siberia, with ages spanning only the past hundreds of years, we detect DNA and identified mitochondrial genomes of multiple mammoth and woolly rhinoceros individuals-both species that have been extinct for thousands of years on the mainland. The occurrence of clearly identifiable aeDNA of extinct Pleistocene megafauna (e.g. >400 K reads in one core) throughout these two short subsurface cores, along with specificities of sedimentology and dating, confirm that processes acting on regional scales, such as extensive permafrost thawing, can influence the aeDNA record and should be accounted for in aeDNA paleoecology.
从湖泊沉积物中提取的古代环境 DNA（aeDNA）为重建过去的生态系统提供了重要的见解，包括灭绝物种的晚存暗示。然而，沉积物中的 DNA 迁移和侧向流入可能会扭曲 DNA 的地层信号。利用三种不同的方法对西伯利亚西部亚马尔半岛的两个短湖芯进行研究，这些湖芯的年龄仅跨越过去数百年，我们检测到了 DNA，并鉴定出了多种猛犸象和披毛犀个体的线粒体基因组——这两个物种在大陆上已经灭绝了数千年。在这两个短的地下核心中，都存在可明确识别的已灭绝更新世巨型动物群的 aeDNA（例如，一个核心中有超过 400000 个读取），以及沉积学和测年的特殊性，证实了在区域尺度上起作用的过程，如广泛的永久冻土融化，会影响 aeDNA 记录，在 aeDNA 古生态学中应该考虑到这些过程。
