Ancient Plasmodium genomes shed light on the history of human malaria
The result's identifiers
Result code in IS VaVaI
<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F67985912%3A_____%2F24%3A00587462" target="_blank" >RIV/67985912:_____/24:00587462 - isvavai.cz</a>
Alternative codes found
RIV/00216208:11210/24:10487105
Result on the web
<a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07546-2.pdf" target="_blank" >https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07546-2.pdf</a>
DOI - Digital Object Identifier
<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41586-024-07546-2" target="_blank" >10.1038/s41586-024-07546-2</a>
Alternative languages
Result language
angličtina
Original language name
Ancient Plasmodium genomes shed light on the history of human malaria
Original language description
Malaria-causing protozoa of the genus Plasmodium have exerted one of the strongest selective pressures on the human genome, and resistance alleles provide biomolecular footprints that outline the historical reach of these species. Nevertheless, debate persists over when and how malaria parasites emerged as human pathogens and spread around the globe. To address these questions, we generated high-coverage ancient mitochondrial and nuclear genome-wide data from P. falciparum, P. vivax and P. malariae from 16 countries spanning around 5,500 years of human history. We identified P. vivax and P. falciparum across geographically disparate regions of Eurasia from as early as the fourth and first millennia BCE, respectively, for P. vivax, this evidence pre-dates textual references by several millennia. Genomic analysis supports distinct disease histories for P. falciparum and P. vivax in the Americas: similarities between now-eliminated European and peri-contact South American strains indicate that European colonizers were the source of American P. vivax, whereas the trans-Atlantic slave trade probably introduced P. falciparum into the Americas. Our data underscore the role of cross-cultural contacts in the dissemination of malaria, laying the biomolecular foundation for future palaeo-epidemiological research into the impact of Plasmodium parasites on human history. Finally, our unexpected discovery of P. falciparum in the high-altitude Himalayas provides a rare case study in which individual mobility can be inferred from infection status, adding to our knowledge of cross-cultural connectivity in the region nearly three millennia ago.
Czech name
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Czech description
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Classification
Type
J<sub>imp</sub> - 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
Result continuities
Project
—
Continuities
I - Institucionalni podpora na dlouhodoby koncepcni rozvoj vyzkumne organizace
Others
Publication year
2024
Confidentiality
S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů
Data specific for result type
Name of the periodical
Nature
ISSN
0028-0836
e-ISSN
1476-4687
Volume of the periodical
631
Issue of the periodical within the volume
8019
Country of publishing house
GB - UNITED KINGDOM
Number of pages
9
Pages from-to
125-133
UT code for WoS article
001319903100001
EID of the result in the Scopus database
2-s2.0-85195679934