Denisovan admixture facilitated environmental adaptation in Papua New Guinean populations
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Abstract
Neandertals and Denisovans, having inhabited distinct regions in Eurasia and possibly Oceania for over 200,000 y, experienced ample time to adapt to diverse environmental challenges these regions presented. Among present-day human populations, Papua New Guineans (PNG) stand out as one of the few carrying substantial amounts of both Neandertal and Denisovan DNA, a result of past admixture events with these archaic human groups. This study investigates the distribution of introgressed Denisovan and Neandertal DNA within two distinct PNG populations, residing in the highlands of Mt Wilhelm and the lowlands of Daru Island. These locations exhibit unique environmental features, some of which may parallel the challenges that archaic humans once confronted and adapted to. Our results show that PNG highlanders carry higher levels of Denisovan DNA compared to PNG lowlanders. Among the Denisovan-like haplotypes with higher frequencies in highlander populations, those exhibiting the greatest frequency difference compared to lowlander populations also demonstrate more pronounced differences in population frequencies than frequency-matched nonarchaic variants. Two of the five most highly differentiated of those haplotypes reside in genomic areas linked to brain development genes. Conversely, Denisovan-like haplotypes more frequent in lowlanders overlap with genes associated with immune response processes. Our findings suggest that Denisovan DNA has provided genetic variation associated with brain biology and immune response to PNG genomes, some of which might have facilitated adaptive processes to environmental challenges.
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- Authors
- Yermakovich, D., André, M., Brucato, N., Kariwiga, J., Leavesley, M., Pankratov, V., Mondal, M., Ricaut, F.-X., & Dannemann, M.
- Affiliations
- University of Tartu (EE)
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR)
- University of Papua New Guinea (PG)
- Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel (DE)
- Corresponding author
- Ricaut, François-Xavier
- Dannemann, Michael
- ORCID
- Venue
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
- Publisher
- National Academy of Sciences
- Published
- 2024-06-18
- Volume
- 121
- Issue
- 26
- Pages
- e2405889121-e2405889121
- ISSN
- 0027-8424 (ISSN-L)
- 1091-6490
- PMC
- PMC11214076
- OpenAlex
- W4399770368
- Cited by
- 12
- References
- 23
- Citations by year
- 2026: 7 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 2
- FWCI
- 20.91
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) (acceptedVersion, cc-by-nd)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- ResearchOnline - JCU (James Cook University) (submittedVersion)
- HAL (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Funders
- HM | Estonian Research Competency Council (TK214)
- EC | Horizon Europe | WPSERA | HORIZON EUROPE Reforming and enhancing the European Research and Innovation system (810645)
- EC | European Regional Development Fund (MOBEC008)
- Association Nationale de la Recherche et de la Technologie (PAPUAEVOL 20-CE12-0003-01)
- French Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs (NA)
- Laboratoire d'Excellence TULIP (NA)
- Leakey Foundation (NA)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Anthropology › Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Forensic and Genetic Research
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Genetic diversity and population structure
- Keywords
- Denisovan admixture, environmental adaptation, brain development genes, immune response genes, Mt. Wilhelm
- MeSH terms
- Adaptation, Physiological, Animals, Genetics, Population, Haplotypes, Humans, Papua New Guinea, Neanderthals
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