Phylogeography of the second plague pandemic revealed through analysis of historical Yersinia pestis genomes

2019/10/02 by Maria A. Spyrou, Marcel Keller, Rezeda I. Tukhbatova +29 · 4 citations
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · Immunology and Microbiology · #Yersinia bacterium, plague, ectoparasites research #Bacillus and Francisella bacterial research #Vector-borne infectious diseases

paper · pdf · doi:10.1038/s41467-019-12154-0

openalex publication_date 2019/10/02 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/01

Abstract

centuries AD. Here we analyse human remains from ten European archaeological sites spanning this period and reconstruct 34 ancient Y. pestis genomes. Our data support an initial entry of the bacterium through eastern Europe, the absence of genetic diversity during the Black Death, and low within-outbreak diversity thereafter. Analysis of post-Black Death genomes shows the diversification of a Y. pestis lineage into multiple genetically distinct clades that may have given rise to more than one disease reservoir in, or close to, Europe. In addition, we show the loss of a genomic region that includes virulence-related genes in strains associated with late stages of the pandemic. The deletion was also identified in genomes connected with the first plague pandemic (541-750 AD), suggesting a comparable evolutionary trajectory of Y. pestis during both events.

Citations

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Cited by

• The source of the Black Death in fourteenth-century central Eurasia
• Palaeoecological data indicates land-use changes across Europe linked to spatial heterogeneity in mortality during the Black Death pandemic
• The role of louse-transmitted diseases in historical plague pandemics
• Black Death [wikipedia]