Early Divergent Strains of Yersinia pestis in Eurasia 5,000 Years Ago | Zendy

Simon Rasmussen | Zendy; Morten E. Allentoft | Zendy; Kasper Nielsen | Zendy; Ludovic Orlando | Zendy; Martin Sikora | Zendy; Karl-Göran Sjögren | Zendy; Anders Gorm Pedersen | Zendy; Mikkel Schubert | Zendy; Alex Van Dam | Zendy; C.M.O. Kapel | Zendy; Henrik Bjørn Nielsen | Zendy; Søren Brunak | Zendy; Pavel Avetisyan | Zendy; Andrey Epimakhov | Zendy; Mikhail Viktorovich Khalyapin | Zendy; Artak Gnuni | Zendy; Айвар Крийска | Zendy; Irena Lasak | Zendy; Mait Metspalu | Zendy; Vyacheslav Moiseyev | Zendy; Andrey Gromov | Zendy; Dalia Pokutta | Zendy; Lehti Saag | Zendy; Liivi Varul | Zendy; Levon Yepiskoposyan | Zendy; Thomas SicheritzPontén | Zendy; Robert A. Foley | Zendy; Marta Mìrazón Lahr | Zendy; Rasmus Nielsen | Zendy; Kristian Kristiansen | Zendy; Eske Willerslev | Zendy

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Early Divergent Strains of Yersinia pestis in Eurasia 5,000 Years Ago

Author(s) -

Simon Rasmussen,

Morten E. Allentoft,

Kasper Nielsen,

Ludovic Orlando,

Martin Sikora,

Karl-Göran Sjögren,

Anders Gorm Pedersen,

Mikkel Schubert,

Alex Van Dam,

C.M.O. Kapel,

Henrik Bjørn Nielsen,

Søren Brunak,

Pavel Avetisyan,

Andrey Epimakhov,

Mikhail Viktorovich Khalyapin,

Artak Gnuni,

Айвар Крийска,

Irena Lasak,

Mait Metspalu,

Vyacheslav Moiseyev,

Andrey Gromov,

Dalia Pokutta,

Lehti Saag,

Liivi Varul,

Levon Yepiskoposyan,

Thomas SicheritzPontén,

Robert A. Foley,

Marta Mìrazón Lahr,

Rasmus Nielsen,

Kristian Kristiansen,

Eske Willerslev

Publication year - 2015

Publication title -

cell

Language(s) - English

Resource type - Journals

SCImago Journal Rank - 26.304

H-Index - 776

eISSN - 1097-4172

pISSN - 0092-8674

DOI - 10.1016/j.cell.2015.10.009

Subject(s) - yersinia pestis , plague (disease) , biology , yersinia pseudotuberculosis , pandemic , ancient dna , yersiniosis , virulence , lineage (genetic) , virology , evolutionary biology , zoology , genetics , enterobacteriaceae , infectious disease (medical specialty) , covid-19 , gene , ancient history , disease , demography , population , medicine , history , pathology , escherichia coli , sociology

The bacteria Yersinia pestis is the etiological agent of plague and has caused human pandemics with millions of deaths in historic times. How and when it originated remains contentious. Here, we report the oldest direct evidence of Yersinia pestis identified by ancient DNA in human teeth from Asia and Europe dating from 2,800 to 5,000 years ago. By sequencing the genomes, we find that these ancient plague strains are basal to all known Yersinia pestis. We find the origins of the Yersinia pestis lineage to be at least two times older than previous estimates. We also identify a temporal sequence of genetic changes that lead to increased virulence and the emergence of the bubonic plague. Our results show that plague infection was endemic in the human populations of Eurasia at least 3,000 years before any historical recordings of pandemics.

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