The Mitochondrial DNA Mitotype of Louis XVII (1785-1795?)

Author(s): Gerard Lucotte, Thierry Thomasset, Christian Crépin

We have obtained mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequences from Louis XVII’s (1785-1795?) hairs : he was the son of the King of France, Louis XVI (1754-1793) and of Queen Marie-Antoinette (1755-1793). The authenticity of the hairs, which were kept in a medallion, is established by optic and electronic microscopy. Sequences of the hypervariable region 2(HVR2) of mtDNA (extracted from two different hairs) show four mutations : 152C, 194T, 263G and 315.1C. The corresponding mtDNA haplogroup is sub-haplogroup H2. As Marie-Antoinette had the same combination of HVR2 mutations, this confirms that Louis XVII is her son.

Mitochondrial DNA Haplogroup, Louis XVII, Mutation in the Hypervariable Region 2

1. Jehaes E, Decorte R, Peneau A, Petrie JH, Boiry PA, Gillissen A, Moisan JP, Van den Berghe H, Pascal O, Cassiman JJ. Mitochondrial DNA analysis on remains of a putative son of Louis XVI, King of France and Marie-Antoinette. European Journal of Human Genetics, 1998, 6 : 383-395.
2. Lucotte G, Crépin C, Thomasset T, Paris M. Mitochondrial DNA sequences of the famous Karl Wilhelm Naundorff (1785?-1845). International Journal of Sciences, 2014, 3 : 28-36.
3. Andrews RM, Kubacha J, Chinnery PF, Lightowlers RN, Turnbull DM, Howel N. Reanalysis and revision of the Cambridge reference sequence for human mitochondrial DNA. Nature Genetics, 1999 ; 23 : 147.
4. Brandstätter A, Niederstätter H, Pavlic M, Grubwieser P, Parson W. Generating population data for the EMPOP database – An overview of the mtDNA sequencing and data evaluation processes considering 273 Austrian control region sequences as example. Forensic Science International, 2007, 166 : 164-175.
5. Jehaes E, Pfeiffer H, Toprak K, Decorte R, Brinkmann B, Cassiman JJ. Mitochondrial DNA analysis of the putative heart of Louis XVII, son of Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette. European Journal of Human Genetics, 2001, 9 :185-190.
6. Jehaes E, Toprak K, Vandrheyden N, Pfeiffer H, Cassiman JJ, Brinkmann B, Decorte R. Pitfalls in the analysis of mitochondrial DNA from ancient specimens and the consequences for forensic DNA analysis : the historical case of the putative heart of Louis XVII. International Journal of Legal Medicine, 2001, 115 : 135-141.