Ancient Human Parasites in Ethnic Chinese Populations

Whilst archaeological evidence for many aspects of life in ancient China is well studied, there has been much less interest in ancient infectious diseases, such as intestinal parasites in past Chinese populations. Here, we bring together evidence from mummies, ancient latrines, and pelvic soil from burials, dating from the Neolithic Period to the Qing Dynasty, in order to better understand the health of the past inhabitants of China and the diseases endemic in the region. Seven species of intestinal parasite have been identified, namely roundworm, whipworm, Chinese liver fluke, oriental schistosome, pinworm, Taenia sp. tapeworm, and the intestinal fluke Fasciolopsis buski. It was found that in the past, roundworm, whipworm, and Chinese liver fluke appear to have been much more common than the other species. While roundworm and whipworm remained common into the late 20th century, Chinese liver fluke seems to have undergone a marked decline in its prevalence over time. The iconic transport route known as the Silk Road has been shown to have acted as a vector for the transmission of ancient diseases, highlighted by the discovery of Chinese liver fluke in a 2,000 year-old relay station in northwest China, 1,500 km outside its endemic range

Additional file 1: Table S1. of A novel somatic mutation in ACD induces telomere lengthening and apoptosis resistance in leukemia cells

Description of data: Non-synonymous and frame-shift mutations in ACD referenced in the public cancer database COSMIC version 71. (PDF 120 kb

Site frequency spectrum in the French and French-Canadian populations.

<p>A) Joint frequency spectrum of genetic variation between the French (FR) and the French-Canadian (FC) populations, projected to 50 samples per population; B) Site frequency spectrum in the French and the French-Canadian population for the synonymous variants using derived allele frequency; C) Site frequency spectrum in the French and the French-Canadian population for the missense variants using derived allele frequency.</p

Estimated parameters for the distribution of fitness effects of new deleterious mutations.

<p>European results are taken from Keightley <i>et al</i><a href="http://www.plosgenetics.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pgen.1003815#pgen.1003815-Keightley1" target="_blank">[31]</a>. The table shows estimates for the mean selective effect (<i>NeE(s)</i>), the shape parameter of the distribution of selective effects (β) and the proportions of mutations falling into each group of selective effects.</p

Population genetic measures in the 38-Canadian populations.

*<p>Watterson's estimate.</p>†<p>Tajima's D, calculated as an average across genes with five or more segregating sites.</p>‡<p>Heterozygosity, calculated as the percentage of heterozygous variants per individual at variant sites.</p

Excess of functional variants in the French-Canadian population.

<p>A) Ratio of nonsynonymous to synonymous changes in the French and the French-Canadian populations for variants grouped by minor allele frequency. B) Average GERP value of the functional changes for each frequency class in the French and the French-Canadian populations. C) Distributions of the average GERP scores at functional sites per individual in the French and the French-Canadian populations. GERP scores are averaged per individual by using only sites at which each individual carries the minor allele.</p