Stone Age Yersinia pestis genomes shed light on the early evolution, diversity, and ecology of plague

[Significance] The bacterium Yersinia pestis has caused numerous historically documented outbreaks of plague and research using ancient DNA could demonstrate that it already affected human populations during the Neolithic. However, the pathogen’s genetic diversity, geographic spread, and transmission dynamics during this early period of Y. pestis evolution are largely unexplored. Here, we describe a set of ancient plague genomes up to 5,000 y old from across Eurasia. Our data demonstrate that two genetically distinct forms of Y. pestis evolved in parallel and were both distributed across vast geographic distances, potentially occupying different ecological niches. Interpreted within the archeological context, our results suggest that the spread of plague during this period was linked to increased human mobility and intensification of animal husbandry.

Bibliographic Details

Main Authors:	Andrades Valtueña, Aida, Neumann, Gunnar U., Spyrou, María A., Musralina, Lyazzat, Aron, Franziska, Beisenov, Arman Z., Belinskiy, Andrej B., Bos, Kirsten, Buzhilova, Alexandra, Conrad, Matthias, Djansugurova, Leyla B., Dobeš, Miroslav, Ernée, Michal, Fernández-Eraso, Javier, Frohlich, Bruno, Furmanek, Mirosław, Hałuszko, Agata, Hansen, Svend, Harney, Éadaoin, Hiss, Alina N., Hübner, Alexander, Key, Félix M., Khussainova, Elmira, Kitov, Egor, Kitova, Alexandra O., Knipper, Corina, Kühnert, Denise, Lalueza-Fox, Carles, Littleton, Judith, Massy, Ken, Mittnik, Alissa, Mujika-Alustiza, José Antonio, Olalde, Iñigo, Papac, Luka, Penske, Sandra, Peška, Jaroslav, Pinhasi, Ron, Reich, David, Reinhold, Sabine, Stahl, Raphaela, Stäuble, Harald, Tukhbatova, Rezeda I., Vasilyev, Sergey, Veselovskaya, Elizaveta, Warinner, Christina, Stockhammer, Philipp W., Haak, Wolfgang, Krause, Johannes, Herbig, Alexander
Other Authors:	Max Planck Society
Format:	artículo biblioteca
Language:	English
Published:	National Academy of Sciences (U.S.) 2022-02-14
Subjects:	Ancient DNA, Plague, Yersinia pestis,
Online Access:	http://hdl.handle.net/10261/271826 http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100000781 http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100003086 http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100001659 http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100004189 http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100004837 http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100004561 http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100004240
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