Ancient genomes reveal a high diversity of Mycobacterium leprae in medieval Europe

Result code in IS VaVaI

<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F67985912%3A_____%2F18%3A00490565" target="_blank" >RIV/67985912:_____/18:00490565 - isvavai.cz</a>

Alternative codes found

RIV/00023272:_____/18:10133925

Result on the web

<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.ppat.1006997" target="_blank" >http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.ppat.1006997</a>

DOI - Digital Object Identifier

<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.ppat.1006997" target="_blank" >10.1371/journal.ppat.1006997</a>

Result language

angličtina

Original language name

Ancient genomes reveal a high diversity of Mycobacterium leprae in medieval Europe

Original language description

Studying ancient DNA allows us to retrace the evolutionary history of human pathogens, such as Mycobacterium leprae, the main causative agent of leprosy. Leprosy is one of the oldest recorded and most stigmatizing diseases in human history. The disease was prevalent in Europe until the 16th century and is still endemic in many countries with over 200,000 new cases reported annually. Previous worldwide studies on modern and European medieval M. leprae genomes revealed that they cluster into several distinct branches of which two were present in medieval Northwestern Europe. In this study, we analyzed 10 new medieval M. leprae genomes including the so far oldest M. leprae genome from one of the earliest known cases of leprosy in the United Kingdom - a skeleton from the Great Chesterford cemetery with a calibrated age of 415-545 C.E. This dataset provides a genetic time transect of M. leprae diversity in Europe over the past 1500 years. We find M. leprae strains from four distinct branches to be present in the Early Medieval Period, and strains from three different branches were detected within a single cemetery from the High Medieval Period. Altogether these findings suggest a higher genetic diversity of M. leprae strains in medieval Europe at various time points than previously assumed. The resulting more complex picture of the past phylogeography of leprosy in Europe impacts current phylogeographical models of M. leprae dissemination. It suggests alternative models for the past spread of leprosy such as a wide spread prevalence of strains from different branches in Eurasia already in Antiquity or maybe even an origin in Western Eurasia. Furthermore, these results highlight how studying ancient M. leprae strains improves understanding the history of leprosy worldwide.

Czech name

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Czech description

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Type

J_imp - Article in a specialist periodical, which is included in the Web of Science database

CEP classification

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OECD FORD branch

60102 - Archaeology

Project

—

Continuities

I - Institucionalni podpora na dlouhodoby koncepcni rozvoj vyzkumne organizace

Publication year

2018

Confidentiality

S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů

Name of the periodical

PLoS Pathogens

ISSN

1553-7366

e-ISSN

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Volume of the periodical

14

Issue of the periodical within the volume

5

Country of publishing house

US - UNITED STATES

Number of pages

17

Pages from-to

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UT code for WoS article

000434026400013

EID of the result in the Scopus database

2-s2.0-85047998152