Denisovan mitochondrial DNA fragment found in modern human nuclear genomes
A research team analyzed 221 high-coverage genomes from Oceania and Indonesia to look for archaic mitochondrial DNA that had been inserted into nuclear genomes. They found one nuclear insert of Denisovan mitochondrial origin in 15 of the genomes. Analysis of the DNA flanking the insert suggests the insertion happened in a Denisovan individual before that DNA passed into modern humans along with nuclear Denisovan DNA, rather than arising in the offspring of a Denisovan mother and modern human father.
The detection method offers a way to spot archaic mitochondrial DNA fragments in nuclear genomes, which can reveal details about ancient interbreeding that nuclear DNA alone does not show.
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