{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,6]],"date-time":"2026-09-06T05:14:06Z","timestamp":1788671646055,"version":"build-2803163510"},"reference-count":41,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"9","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,4]],"date-time":"2026-09-04T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1788480000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100010785","name":"Canada First Research Excellence Fund","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","award":["000054"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["000054"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100010785","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]},{"award":["000054"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["000054"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/01ktx4s83","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"name":"New Frontiers in Research Fund","award":["NFRFT-2020-00073"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["NFRFT-2020-00073"]}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100000196","name":"Canada Foundation for Innovation","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["MSI 42450"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["MSI 42450"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100000196","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"award":["MSI 42450"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["MSI 42450"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/000az4664","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Insects"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Human lice can be classified into several mitochondrial clades with distinct geographic distributions, reflecting long-term coevolution with ancient hominids and possibly with human populations. Analysis of ancient lice DNA from archaeological human remains can provide insights into the geographic origins of these clades and the timing of their dispersal. This study analyzes the COI barcode region of lice recovered from the ~1500-year-old salt-preserved mummy (Salt Man 2) at the Chehrabad salt mine in Zanjan Province, Iran. The sequences were compared with those of recent lice from Iran and other regions, available in the GenBank database, to determine clade affiliation and possible historical relationships. Our phylogenetic analysis recovered the five recognized mitochondrial clades (A\u2013E). Ancient lice clustered within clade A but displayed novel haplotypes. Recent nits from Gilan and Kurdistan provinces were grouped within clades A and B, the only clades reported in Iran. The most complete ancient sequence (MLICE005-18) showed close similarity to sequences from Iraq, Pakistan, Egypt, and Iran. These findings, along with future research, could help determine when ancient lice lineages were established or introduced into specific regions. They could also clarify whether they represent haplotypes that have since disappeared or a lineage that still exists in understudied human populations.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/insects17090929","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,4]],"date-time":"2026-09-04T13:50:44Z","timestamp":1788529844000},"page":"929","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["DNA Barcoding of Head Lice from a ~1500-Year-Old Salt-Preserved Mummy from the Chehrabad Salt Mine, Iran"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"17","author":[{"given":"Negar","family":"Bizhani","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medical Parasitology and Mycology, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran 14155, Iran"},{"name":"Center for Research of Endemic Parasites of Iran (CREPI), Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran 14155, Iran"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1351-4126","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Muhammad","family":"Ashfaq","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Centre for Biodiversity Genomics, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON N1G 2W1, Canada"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3081-6700","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Paul D. N.","family":"Hebert","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Centre for Biodiversity Genomics, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON N1G 2W1, Canada"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0403-3956","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Sean","family":"Prosser","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Centre for Biodiversity Genomics, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON N1G 2W1, Canada"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6853-0735","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jean","family":"Dupouy-Camet","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Facult\u00e9 de M\u00e9decine, Paris Cit\u00e9 University, 15 Rue de l\u2019\u00c9cole de M\u00e9decine, 75006 Paris, France"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Abolfazl","family":"Ali","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Archaeological Museum of Zanjan, Zanjan Cultural Heritage, Tourism, and Handicrafts General Directorate, Zanjan 4516773369, Iran"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Thomas","family":"St\u00f6llner","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute for Archaeological Science, Ruhr-University Bochum, 44791 Bochum, Germany"},{"name":"German Mining Museum, 44791 Bochum, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Nicole","family":"Boenke","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute for Archaeological Science, Ruhr-University Bochum, 44791 Bochum, Germany"},{"name":"German Mining Museum, 44791 Bochum, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0751-8692","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Saied Reza","family":"Naddaf","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Parasitology, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran 1316943551, Iran"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Gholamreza","family":"Mowlavi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medical Parasitology and Mycology, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran 14155, Iran"},{"name":"Center for Research of Endemic Parasites of Iran (CREPI), Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran 14155, Iran"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,4]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Light, J.E., Smith, V.S., Allen, J.M., Durden, L.A., and Reed, D.L. 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