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

ABSTRACT: The second plague pandemic, caused by Yersinia pestis, devastated Europe and the nearby regions between the 14^th and 18^th 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

SUBMITTER: Spyrou MA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6775055 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature