Romanov Part A
Part 1http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0004
- Who were the Romanov’s
The Romanov’s were a family of the last Russian monarchy.
2. Briefly outline the Romanov Lineage.
Nicholas the first married Alexandra Hedorovna. They had two kids Alexander the second who
was married to Maria Alexandrovna. They then had Nicholas the second and he later married
Alexandra Fedorovna. They had 5 children, Olga, Tatiana, Maria, Anastasia, and Alexei.
3. Nicholas 2 was the last Romanov to hold the power in Russia. What was his title?
He was king Tsar Nicholas the second because his brother Duke Michael declined the throne.
4. What happened to Nicholas 2? Why ( from a geopolitical View)? Who then took control?
Nicholas the second, his family, and staff were held in exile in Yekaterinburg, Russia.
With the Tsar being king they were held by the Ural Soviets.
5. Describe the Family of Nicholas 2. What happened to them?
The Nicholas family consisted of him and his wife. Who had 4 daughters and 1 son. They were all captured and killed by the soviets.
Part 2 Hemophilia
6. How was Nicholas 2 wife, Alex, related to Queen Victoria of England?
Nicholas’ wife is the grandchild of Queen Victoria of England.
Both Queen Victoria and Alex are designated as being carries for Hemophilia.
7. In a couple sentences, describe the disease Hemophilia.
Hemophilia is an Inherited bleeding disorder. The affected blood does not clot properly. This
can be deadly, it can cause spontaneous bleeding after injury or surgery. This disease occurs
because people lack factor 8 and 9 protein in their blood. Hemophilia is a mutation or change
the clotting factors genes. The genes are located on the X chromosome.
Source for 8-10 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20557352
8.What type of Hemophilia (A or B) is ( probably) represented in the pedigree chart?
Hemophilia B is the represented disease. With a mutation in the F9 gene.
9. The Romanov’s son, Alexis, had Hemophilia. Describe how Alexis genetically acquired
Hemophilia. ( Use a Punnett square)
A male has XY chromosomes, a female has both XX chromosomes. While his father Nicholas did not have the gene mutation for the F8 or F9 protein his mother was a carrier of Hemophilia.
Which means he as the only son would be born with hemophilia because the only X
chromosome passed down from the mother was affected.
10. Using a Punnett square, explain why only males in the pedigree chart have Hemophilia.
Only males in the pedigree chart will have full hemophilia because of the only affected X
chromosome that can be passed down from mother. Males when they have children can only
pass down the Y chromosome giving the chance of having a son. With that being said, the male
were to have the 1 in 2 chance of being the son with Hemophilia.
11. Is it possible for a female to inherit Hemophilia, and if so, how?
A female can inherit Hemophilia, yet that would mean the mother would have hemophilia or be
Heterozygous and the father would have Hemophilia. The father passes his only X chromosome
down to all his daughters. Which means He would have to have hemophilia for any of his
daughters to get the trait. ( Males have XY chromosomes ^). The mother would pass down the
carrier or heterozygous X chromosome as well. Which means 50% of their children would have
Hemophilia and 1 or 4 would be a carrier. One daughter and one sone would have hemophilia
and on daughter would be a carrier. The sons would have a 1 in 2 chance of getting Hemophilia.
12. None of Alexis’ sisters are shown to have Hemophilia. Using only the tools available at the time they lived, how could it have been determined whether they were carries like their mother?
They would have had to had a family member show the symptoms of hemophilia and
determined the inheritability. (?)
13. Using the Punnett square, what is the probability the daughter of a mother who is a carrier and a father who does not have the disease, will be a carrier?
The daughter has a 50% chance of being the carrier out the daughter
14. Using a Punnett square, what is the probability that 4 daughter of a mother who is carrier and a father who does not have the disease, will be a carrier?
.5 x .5 x .5 x .5 = 6.25 % because The daughters would have a 50% chance of getting passed
down the carrier gene.
15. Using a Punnett square, explain why none of Alexi’s sisters had Hemophilia
The X chromosome passed down to them by the father does not have the mutation and the X chromosome they received from their mother was a 50% chance of being the one with the
factor 8 or 9 mutation which none of theme received.
16. Some Historians speculate that Alexis’ Hemophilia condition could have led to the Russian
Revolution. Explain. ( Look up the faith healer Rasputin)
Part II: Hemophilia
The pedigree chart below comes from the Module powerpoint lecture notes.
Use the following source for the questions 2:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20557352
(You won’t be able to access the entire article, but the abstract will give you the information you need to answer the questions.)
1. Using your knowledge from Module 4, on what chromosome is the gene that causes hemophilia?
The Hemophilia gene is on chromosome X
2. Describe the mutation that apparently caused hemophilia in Alix, (and probably all of the
European families that had hemophilia).
The mutation was of the acceptor site of exon 4 in the F9 gene.
3.Using your knowledge from Module 7, describe how the mutation you described in #10 could result in a faulty gene product.
The F9 gene provides instruction for making clotting factors proteins in order for blood to clot. With this mutation a faulty gene product it produced.
4. Again, using your knowledge from Module 4, give the genotype for a carrier of hemophilia.
XhXH is the genotype for carrier female
Part III: Molecular Analysis of People in a Mass Grave
Use the following source to help you answer the following questions:
http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0004838 (You should be able to access the entire article.)
5.Mitochondrial DNA testing was also done on both Nicholas II and Alix. Why was information from Alix’s, but not Nicholas’, mitochondrial DNA used to identify three females as belonging to Alix?
Because Nicholas would not have the same Mitochondrial DNA and can’t be used to identify the females. Most MT DNA is from the mother.
6. HRH Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, provided mitochondrial DNA used to identify Alix and her three daughters. Why was his mitochondrial DNA used? Who was the HRH Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh in today’s world? Do you ever hear of his grandchildren
(in magazines while you are waiting to check out of a store)?
HRH Prince Phili and Alix all share the same Maternal Lineage and are descendants of Qeen Victoria so all of them have the same Mitochondria DNA.
7. Who was missing from the mass grave?
Two children of Nicholas the second and Alexandra are missing
8. 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.
It does not matter because they are descendants of Castle and they share the same MT DNA
9. What was discovered in the mitochondrial DNA of Nicholas that was not identified in either the Duke of Fife or Princess Xenia?
They found Heteroplasmy
10. What is the term given to the existence of two (or more) genetically different mitochondria in the cell?
Heteroplasmy
Use the following source to help you answer the following questions:
http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0004838 (You should be able to access the entire article.)
- Two “graves” were discovered near Yekaterinburg, Russia. Describe the number of bodies in each grave.
One grave had two bodies and the other had Nine
- When were these graves discovered?
The one with Nine bodies was discoverd in 1979 and the one with two bodied wasnt discovered till 2007
3. One of the reasons that the family of Nicholas II was executed was because there was a fear that the White Russian Army would save them. Who was the White Russian Army?
The White armies were counter-revolutionary groups that participated in the Russian Civil War. White armies fought against the Bolshevik Red Army for control of Russia.
4. What type of testing was done to confirm sex and familial relationships among the remains found in the mass grave?
Nuclear DNA testing
5. Genetically, what does STR “stand” for?
autosomal short tandem repeat
Forensic Autosomal Short Tandem repeat.
6. What three types of DNA were used to test the remains found in a second grave?
Mitochondrial DNA, Autosomal STR, and Y-STR testing
7. Of the three types of DNA you listed in #32, which one would have been used specifically to identify Alexis?
Y-STR testing
8. What was the source of the DNA used to identify Alexis?
They took DNA samples from the femur
9. Was Anastasia in the grave in which Alexis was found?
No she was buried in the grave with the other sisters (9 bodies)
Part IV: 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).
Refer to the following source to help you answer some of the following questions:
http://www.nature.com.proxy.lib.odu.edu/ng/journal/v9/n1/pdf/ng0195-9.pdf (Please note that this is a PDF of the article and is provided via the ODU Library.)
10. Give a brief history (2-3 sentences) of Anna Anderson-both her claims and what is thought to be true.
11. Where in the US did Anna Anderson eventually settle?
Charlottesville virginia
12. Whom did she eventually marry?
John E Manahan
(same link as above)
13. What were the sources of Anna Andersons’s nuclear DNA?
Hair and Intestines
14. What were the sources of Nicholas’ and Alix’s nuclear DNA?
Bones
15. What type of analysis was done on DNA from Anna Anderson, Nicholas, and Alix?
Mt DNA and STR
16. Anna Anderson’s mitochondrial DNA was compared to the mitochondrial DNA of what two people?
Carl Maucher and Duke of Edinburgh
17. A hypervariable region of the mitochondrial DNA was analyzed. Define a hypervariable region?
A hypervariable region is one that has a high ratio of different amino acids in a given position, relative to the most common amino acid in that position.
18. What were the conclusions from the mitochondrial DNA comparisons?
She was not related.
19.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 counted but still could not tell the difference between two female remains
Part V: Current Hemophilia Treatment
Refer to the following web site: https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/hemophilia/treatment.html#:~:text=The%20best%20way%20to%20treat,concentrates%2C%20into%20a%20person’s%20vein.
20. Descibe a current treatment for hemophilia.
when treating hemophilia they replace the missing blood clotting factor so that the blood can clot properly. They inject products, called clotting factor concentrates, into a person’s vein.