A Forensic Genomics Approach for the Identification of Sister Marija Crucifiksa Kozulić

Sister Marija Krucifiksa Kozulić (1852-1922) was a Croatian nun who is in consideration for beatification by the Vatican, which is facilitated by the identification of her 20th-century remains. Sister Marija was buried in a tomb in Rijeka, Croatia, along with other nuns including her biological sist...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Genes 2020-08, Vol.11 (8), p.938
Main Authors: Marshall, Charla, Sturk-Andreaggi, Kimberly, Gorden, Erin M, Daniels-Higginbotham, Jennifer, Sanchez, Sidney Gaston, Bašić, Željana, Kružić, Ivana, Anđelinović, Šimun, Bosnar, Alan, Čoklo, Miran, Petaros, Anja, McMahon, Timothy P, Primorac, Dragan, Holland, Mitchell M
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Armed forces
Bones
Deoxyribonucleic acid
DNA
DNA repair
Female
Forensic Anthropology
Forensic Genetics - methods
Forensic science
Genome, Human
Genome, Mitochondrial
Genomes
Genomics
Genomics - methods
Haplotypes
Humans
Identification
Legal medicine
Microsatellite Repeats
Mitochondria
Mitochondrial DNA
Nuns
Pedigree
Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide
Single-nucleotide polymorphism
Software
Whole Genome Sequencing
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Summary:Sister Marija Krucifiksa Kozulić (1852-1922) was a Croatian nun who is in consideration for beatification by the Vatican, which is facilitated by the identification of her 20th-century remains. Sister Marija was buried in a tomb in Rijeka, Croatia, along with other nuns including her biological sister, Tereza Kozulić (1861-1933). When the remains were exhumed in 2011, they were found in a deteriorated state and commingled with several other sets of remains. Thus, mitochondrial genome sequencing of the long bones was performed to sort the remains by mitochondrial haplotype. Two similar but unique haplotypes belonging to haplogroup H1bu were identified, and samples from these bones were subjected to autosomal short tandem repeat (STR) and single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) sequencing. Although only partial profiles were obtained, the data were sufficient for kinship analysis with the profile of a paternal niece of Sister Marija (Fides Kozulić). The data indicate that it is 574,195-fold more likely that the two sets of skeletal remains represent 2nd-degree relatives of Fides than sisters who are unrelated to Fides. Although it is impossible to discern which set of remains belongs to Marija and which belongs to Tereza, forensic genomics methods have enabled identification of the sisters.
ISSN:2073-4425
2073-4425
DOI:10.3390/genes11080938