Old Dominion University/BIOL294-Genetics/Rinehart-Kim/Romanov Project
Internet Resources
You may use other Internet sources here, but please cite any sources that you use unless they are one of the following.
http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0004838 (You should be able to access the entire article. You may need to copy and paste the site address.)
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20557352 (You won’t be able to access the entire article, but the abstract will give you important information.)
http://www.nature.com.proxy.lib.odu.edu/ng/journal/v9/n1/pdf/ng0195-9.pdf (Please note that this is a PDF of an article.)
History
1. Nicholas II was the last Romanov to hold power in Russia. What was his title?
Emperor and Autocrat of All the Russias
2. How long had the Romanov family been in power in Russia?
Over 300 years. 1613-1917.
3. Nicholas II abdicated the throne. Who took power then?
Nicholas II tried to pass power onto his brother, but he denied it. The power was passed to the Russian Provisional Government
4. What happened to Nicholas II and his family after he abdicated the throne?
They were imprisoned and later executed.
5. One of the reasons that the family of Nicholas II was executed (vs. just imprisoned) was because there was a fear that the White Russian Army would save them. Who was the White Russian Army?
An anti-communist group that fought against the Bolsheviks.
Hemophilia
One of the pedigree charts found at the end of this assignment comes from the Module powerpoint lecture notes.
6. How was Alix, the wife of Nicholas II, related to Queen Victoria of England? (Look at the pedigree chart carefully.)
She was the granddaughter of Queen Victoria of England.
7. On what chromosome is the gene that, when mutated, causes hemophilia and how does this contribute to its inheritance pattern?
It is located on the X chromosome (sex chromosome). Males only have on X chromosome, and any mutation will result in hemophilia. Females have two, so the second chromosome acts as a back-up.
Both Queen Victoria and Alix are designated as being carriers for hemophilia.
8. What does it mean to be a carrier for a disease?
A carrier holds and has the possibility of passing genetic material responsible for a disease, to their offspring.
9. Why aren’t males considered carriers for hemophilia?
Males receive only one X chromosome from the father. This may or may not contain the material for being affected by hemophilia. Females receive two X chromosomes, and both parents need to be affected in order for the daughters to be affected. Carriers contain the genetic material, but do not display symptoms of the disease.
10. In a couple of sentences, describe the physiology of the disease hemophilia. (Yes, I know it is severe bleeding because the blood cannot clot. But WHY can’t the blood clot? Be very specific.)
Those affected by hemophilia have low levels of clotting factors, which stop the bleeding. Varying levels in factor VIII or factor IX determine the severity of hemophilia.
11. What type of hemophilia (A or B) is (probably) represented in the pedigree chart?
Hemophilia B
12. Describe the mutation (at the molecular level) that apparently caused hemophilia in Alix, (and probably all of the European families that had hemophilia). Be very specific.
There was a substitution in the splice acceptor site of exon 4 in the F9 gene.
13. How could the mutation you described in #12 result in a faulty gene product? Be very specific in your description.
The substitution may cause abnormalities to remain in the mRNA during the Transcription/Translation process. When it finally makes proteins and the genes are expressed, the mutation is present and this will result in faulty gene product.
14. The Romanov’s son, Alexis, had hemophilia. Describe how Alexis genetically acquired hemophilia. (Use a Punnett square. You can either draw a table or line up the genotypes.)
| XH | Y | |
| XH | XHXH | XHY |
| Xh | XHXh | XhY |
Based on an affected allele found in the mother’s X chromosome, Alexis acquired hemophilia from his carrier mother.
15. Using a Punnett square (again, draw a table or line up the genotypes), explain why only males in the pedigree chart have hemophilia. (Choose at least one of the males represented in the pedigree chart, and show his parents in the Punnett square.)
| XH | Y | |
| XH | XHXH | XHY |
| Xh | XHXh | XhY |
*Beatrice and Her Husband
16. Is it possible for a female to inherit hemophilia, and, if so, how?
It is possible for a female to inherit hemophilia. Both the mother and father would have to be carriers for hemophilia.
17. Some historians speculate that Alexis’ hemophilia condition could have led to the Russian Revolution. Explain. You should look up the faith healer Rasputin and read about his relationship to the Romanov family.
Tsar Nicholas II’s son Alexis suffered from hemophilia and Nicholas sought help from Rasputin to help heal his sick son. Their trust in Rasputin grew and he became an adviser to the family. Many people disliked him and his influence on the royal family, and years later, he was eventually assassinated. The connection between Alexis’ hemophilia and his position within the family, may have been a cause for the conflict during the Russian Revolution.
Molecular Analysis of People in a Mass Grave
18. Two “graves” were discovered near Yekaterinburg, Russia. Describe the number of bodies in each grave.
Nine people were discovered in one burial site in a forest near Yekaterinburg. The second burial site contained the two remaining children.
19. When were these graves discovered?
The first burial site was found in 1991, and the second burial site was discovered in 2007.
20. What type of testing was done to confirm sex and familial relationships among the remains found in the mass grave?
They used Autosomal STR testing to confirm the two siblings were related to the Romanov remains.
21. Genetically, what does STR “stand” for? Be very specific in your answer.
Short Tandem Repeat. It is a type of DNA profiling used in forensics.
22. HRH Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, provided mitochondrial DNA used to identify Alix and her three daughters. HRH Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, is married to Queen Elizabeth II of England. Wait, isn’t Queen Elizabeth II related to Queen Victoria? So why was Prince Philip’s mitochondrial DNA used? (To help you answer this question, look at the second pedigree chart.)
They both share a common maternal ancestor.
23. Who was missing from the mass grave (the one with the most skeletons)?
Alexei and Maria.
Molecular Analysis of People in a Mass Grave, cont.
24. The Duke of Fife and Princess Xenia provided mitochondrial DNA used to identify Nicholas. One of these is a female and another is a male. Does that matter? What general statement can you make about their genetic
relationship to Nicholas and Alexandra? Are these people still living?
The gender does not matter. They were maternal relatives of Nicholas. They are no longer living.
25. What was discovered in the mitochondrial DNA of Nicholas that was not identified in either the Duke of Fife or Princess Xenia?
A single point heteroplasmy at position 16169 was observed in the mtDNA sequence of the Tsar.
26. What is the term given to the existence of two (or more) genetically different mitochondria in the cell?
Heteroplasmy
27. What three types of DNA were used to test the remains found in a second grave?
Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), autosomal STR, and Y- STR testing.
28. Of the three types of DNA you listed in #28, which one would have been used specifically to identify Alexis?
Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA)
29. What was the source of the DNA used to identify Alexis?
Blood from Prince Philip and bone fragments.
30. Was Anastasia in the grave in which Alexis was found?
No, they believe the body belonged to Maria.
Who Wants to Be Anastasia?
Apparently, about 200 people have wanted to be Anastasia and have claimed to be her! One of the most famous imposters was a woman named Anna Anderson (Manahan).
31. Give a brief history (2-3 sentences) of Anna Anderson-both her claims and what is thought to be true.
Anna Anderson was a mentally ill woman who claimed to be the youngest daughter, Anastasia. She received a lot of public attention based on her claims, but they were later officially proven false based on DNA testing with the remains of the Romanov family and blood from Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh.
32. Where in the US did Anna Anderson eventually settle and why?
She would live in New York for a few years, then she finally settled in Charlottesville, Virginia.
33. What were the sources of Anna Andersons’s nuclear DNA?
Hair and tissue (intestinal) samples.
34. What were the sources of Nicholas’ and Alix’s nuclear DNA?
Bone and/or teeth samples.
35. What type of analysis was done on DNA from Anna Anderson, Nicholas, and Alix?
Mitochondrial DNA testing
36. Anna Anderson’s mitochondrial DNA was compared to the mitochondrial DNA of what two “other” people?
Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh and Karl Maucher.
37. A hypervariable region of the mitochondrial DNA was analyzed. Define a hypervariable region.
The location in nuclear DNA where nucleotide base pairs repeat or have substitutions.
38. What were the conclusions from the mitochondrial DNA comparisons?
It did not match Prince Philips but it matched Karl Maucher. Anna Anderson was not related to the Romanov’s.
39. The article which describes the analysis of Anna Anderson’s DNA was published in 1995.
When were all of Nicholas’ and Alix’s children finally accounted for?
They were all accounted for in 2007.
40. What did you learn from doing this assignment?
I’ve learned about various types of DNA testing. I learned about the history of the Romanov dynasty and those who claimed to be related to the family years after their deaths.
Are you still interested in the life of the last Tsar of Russia and his relationship to British royalty? The headline for the following article showed up on my Internet browser earlier this year. While I can’t vouch for it as it did not appear in a peer-reviewed journal, it might be interesting reading for you.
Source for the pedigree chart above: Janet Stein Carter, Biology Instructor at Clermont College, University of Cincinnati
Work(s) Cited:
Magazine, S. DNA analysis confirms authenticity of Romanovs’ remains. Smithsonian.com (2018). Available at: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/dna-analysis-confirms-authenticity-remains-attributed-romanovs-180969674/. (Accessed: 11th December 2021)
Rasputin: The ‘mad monk’ who became a friend to the Romanovs. HistoryExtra (2021). Available at: https://www.historyextra.com/period/20th-century/rasputin-who-mad-monk-russian-royal-family-imperial-tsarina-alexandra/. (Accessed: 11th December 2021)
Romanov remains identified using DNA. History.com (2010). Available at: https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/romanov-remains-identified. (Accessed: 11th December 2021)
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