Romanov Assignment
Old Dominion University/BIOL294-Genetics/Rinehart-Kim/Module 9/Romanov Project
History
1. Who were the Romanov’s (in Russian history)?
The Romanov’s were the last of the Russian monarchy.
2. How long were the Romanovs in power in Russia?
Romanovs ruled Russia for 300 years.
3. Nicholas II was the last Romanov to hold power in Russia. What was his title?
Nicholas II’s title was the Tsar of Russia.
4. Politically, what happened to Nicholas II?
Tsar Nicholas II gave up his throne so that his brother could rule. His brother declined, and the former Tsar and his family were exiled as a result.
5. Who took control after Nicholas II abdicated the throne?
A group took over that was named the Ural Soviet.
6. What happened to Nicholas II and his family after he abdicated the throne?
Nicholas II and his family were killed.
7. 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 Russian Army was a counter-revolutionary group who fought against the Red Army during the Russian civil war.
Hemophilia
8. How was Nicholas II wife, Alix, related to Queen Victoria of England?Alix was the great-granddaughter of Queen Victoria of England.Both Queen Victoria and Alix are designated as being carriers for hemophilia.
9. 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?) Blood cannot clot because it lacks certain clotting factors. While cuts may bleed much longer than normal, the real problem comes from internal bleeding. (Mayo Clinic)
10. What does it mean to be a carrier for a disease?
It means you carry a hereditary disorder.
11. What type of hemophilia (A or B) is (probably) represented in the pedigree chart?
The type of hemophilia represented in the pedigree is most likely hemophilia B.
12. Using your knowledge from Module 4, on what chromosome is the gene that, when mutated, causes hemophilia?Both hemophilia A and B are caused by a gene mutation on the X-chromosome. It is an X-linked recessive mutation.
13. Describe the mutation that apparently caused hemophilia in Alix, (and probably all of the European families that had hemophilia). Be veryspecific.There is a substitution in the splice acceptor site of exon 4 in the F9 gene, and this causes a deficit of either factor VIII or XI.
14. Using your knowledge from Module 7, describe how the mutation you described in #10 could result in a faulty gene product. Be veryspecific in your description.A causal substitution in the splice acceptor site of exon 4 in the F9 gene
15. 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.)
Alexei’s mother, Alix, was a carrier for a hemophilia b allele. If her son inherited this chromosome (denoted by Xh) along with a Y chromosome from his father, he would express the hemophilia b gene in his phenotype.
XH Xh
XH XHXH XHXh
Y XHY XhY
16. 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.) Alix was a carrier for hemophilia, which is a recessive gene in the x chromosome. As only females are carriers, and carry the mutant gene, their children can get hemophilia if they are a male with a recessive gene from their father.
17. Is it possible for a female to inherit hemophilia, and, if so, how? Females are able to be carriers for the gene, but since they have two copies of the chromosome they are not affected.
18. Using a Punnett square (again, draw a table or line up the genotypes), 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?Based on the Punnett square below, the daughter has a 1 in 2 chance or 50 % chance of becoming a carrier.
XH Xh
XH XHXH XHXh
XHXH XHXh
19. Using a Punnett square (again, draw a table or line up the genotypes), what is the probability that 4 daughters of a mother who is a carrier and a father who does not have the disease, will be a carrier?If a mother is a carrier, and a father isn’t; the mother will donate half of the offspring an Xhhemophilia allele and the other have a normal allele. The father will only donate a normal XH. Based on the Punnett Square below, ½ of the daughters will be carriers for the Xhhemophilia allele. XH Xh
XH XHXH XHXh
XHXH XHXh
20. Some historians speculate that Alexis’ hemophilia condition could have led to the Russian Revolution. Explain.
Rasputin was a man who claimed he could help Alexis’ hemophilia. It is now speculated that Rasputin used hypnosis to ease Alexis’ pain (Yegorov, 2018). This led to the royal family endorsing Rasputin heavily, and he gained lots of political influence as a result. He was later assassinated. The fact that a close friend of the Tsar and influential politician was killed aided in feelings of revolution, which soon followed. This led to the royal family abdicating, being exiled, and eventually murdered.
Molecular Analysis of People in a Mass Grave
21. Two “graves” were discovered near Yekaterinburg, Russia. Describe the number of bodies in each grave.
In one mass grave there were nine bodies, and the smaller grave contained two children.
22. When were these graves discovered?
They were discovered in 1991
23. What type of testing was done to confirm sex and familial relationships among the remains found in the mass grave?
Nuclear DNA testing of the five SRT markers were used to confirm the sex and familial relationship of the remains of the Tsar, Tsarina and three of their daughters.
24. Genetically, what does STR “stand” for? Be very specific in your answer.
STR stands for “short tandem repeats”, they are short (1-6 base pairs) repetitive DNA sequences repeated in tandem.
25. 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?Mitochondria is passed down through the mother.
26. 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’smitochondrial DNA used?Prince
Philips mitochondrial DNA was used because it is common practice for royalty to marry into their own family
27. Who was missing from the mass grave?
Alexi and one of the princesses were missing from the grave.
28. 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?It does not matter, as they are maternal relatives of Nicholas, meaning the mitochondrial DNA comes from the mother, and would thus match up with that of Alix.
29. What was discovered in the mitochondrial DNA of Nicholas that was not identified in either the Duke of Fife or Princess Xenia?Heteroplasmy was discovered in the mitochondrial DNA.
30. What is the term given to the existence of two (or more) genetically different mitochondria in the cell? Heteroplasmy is the term given to the existence of two (or more) genetically different mitochondria in the cell
31. What three types of DNA were used to test the remains found in a second grave?Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), autosomal SRT, and Y-SRT were used on the remains discovered in 2007.
32. Of the three types of DNA you listed in #31, which one would have been used specifically to identify Alexis?The Y-STR DNA would have been used to identify Alexis, as it must match directly to the individual.
33. What was the source of the DNA used to identify Alexis?Prince Phillip the Duke of Edinburgh was the source.
34. Was Anastasia in the grave in which Alexis was found?
Anastasia was not found in which Alexis was found. She was found in a second gravesite close by.
Who Wants to Be Anastasia?
35. Give a brief history (2-3 sentences) of Anna Anderson-both her claims and what is thought to be true. Anna Anderson was a Polish peasant who claimed to be Anastasia, the daughter of Tsar Nicholas II. She was exposed as an imposter after samples of her DNA were compared to that of known relatives of Tsar Nicholas II and Carl Maucher, the nephew of Franzisca Schanzkowska. DNA comparison proved that the likelihood of Anna Anderson not being maternally related to Maucher, the nephew of Franzisca Schanzkowska, was one in three hundred. This data supports the Anna Anderson is really Franzisca Schanzkowska, not duchess Anastasia.
36. Where in the US did Anna Anderson eventually settle?
Anna Anderson settled in Charlottesville, Virginia in the United States.
37. Whom did she eventually marry?
She married J.E. Manahan (history.com).
38. What were the sources of Anna Andersons’s nuclear DNA?
The sources of Anna Andersons’s nuclear DNA were her hair and intestine samples.
39.What were the sources of Nicholas’ and Alix’s nuclear DNA?
The source of both Nicholas’ and Alix’s nuclear DNA were skeleton fragments found at the first grave.
40. What type of analysis was done on DNA from Anna Anderson, Nicholas, and Alix?
Both mitochondrial DNA and STR DNA analysis was used to disprove the link between Anna Anderson and the royal lineage.
41. Anna Anderson’s mitochondrial DNA was compared to the mitochondrial DNA of what two people?Carl Maucher and HRH Prince Phillip
42. A hypervariable region of the mitochondrial DNA was analyzed. Define a hypervariable region? Hypervariable regions are regions of DNA in which base pairs of nucleotides repeat or have substitutions.
43. What were the conclusions from the mitochondrial DNA comparisons?The comparison of mitochondrial DNA showed that Anna Anderson was likely Franzisca Schanzkowska, from comparisons to her nephews DNA. Researchers concluded she was not Anastasia, the daughter of Tsar Nicholas II.
44. 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?The bodies of the Alexis and Maria were found in Porosenkov Ravine, and their bodies were first identified as such in 2008 (Manaev, 2020).
45. What did you learn from doing this assignment? (Each person in a group should answer this question. It is not a group answer.)
Jack Saunders: I learned about the genotypic relationships surrounding hemophilia. I also learned about the tragedy of the Romanov family.
Nick Crodick: This assignment combines historic, investigative and scientific topics in reference to not only disproving claims made by an imposter, but also supplying a more definitive account of what happened to Tsar Nicholas II and his family. This assignment taught me how applicable genetics can be to a variety of topics.
James Hammett:I learned how different kinds of DNA tests can be used to determine even remote relationships. This allows us to debunk claimed relations, or verify them.
Brandon Osgood: From doing this assignment, I learned a lot of history and that Romanovs were able to hold power for a very long time.
References
2020. Hemophilia. Mayo Clinic. Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research.
Manaev, G. (2020, April 19). Fact check: Did the Grand Duchess Anastasia survive the Romanov family execution?. https://www.rbth.com/history/332042-factcheck-grand-duchess-anastasia
2010. Woman claiming to be Anastasia Romanov arrives in the U.S. Historycom. A&E Television Networks.
Yegorov, O. (2018, August 21). How the ‘royal disease’ destroyed the life of Russia’s last tsarevich. https://www.rbth.com/history/329002-tsarevich-alexei-russia-house-romanov