Ancient genomes reveal a deep history of Treponema pallidum in the Americas.

ABSTRACT: Human treponemal infections are caused by a family of closely related Treponema pallidum that give rise to the diseases yaws, bejel, pinta and, most notably, syphilis¹. Debates on a common origin for these pathogens and the history of syphilis itself have weighed evidence for the 'Columbian hypothesis'², which argues for an American origin, against that for the 'pre-Columbian hypothesis'³, which argues for the presence of the disease in Eurasia in the Medieval period and possibly earlier. Although molecular data has provided a genetic basis for distinction of the typed subspecies⁴, deep evolution of the complex has remained unresolved owing to limitations in the conclusions that can be drawn from the sparse palaeogenomic data that are currently a

SUBMITTER: Barquera R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11964931 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature