Ancient Bacterial Genomes Reveal a High Diversity of Treponema pallidum Strains in Early Modern Europe

Fecha de publicación: Fecha Ahead of Print:

Autores de FISABIO

  • Marta Pla Díaz

    Autor

  • Fernando González Candelas

    Autor

Autores ajenos a FISABIO

  • Majander K
  • Pfrengle S
  • Kocher A
  • Neukamm J
  • du Plessis L
  • Arora N
  • Akgül G
  • Salo K
  • Schats R
  • Inskip S
  • Oinonen M
  • Valk H
  • Malve M
  • Kriiska A
  • Onkamo P
  • Kühnert D
  • Krause J
  • Schuenemann VJ

Grupos de Investigación

Abstract

Syphilis is a globally re-emerging disease, which has marked European history with a devastating epidemic at the end of the 15th century. Together with non-venereal treponemal diseases, like bejel and yaws, which are found today in subtropical and tropical regions, it currently poses a substantial health threat worldwide. The origins and spread of treponemal diseases remain unresolved, including syphilis' potential introduction into Europe from the Americas. Here, we present the first genetic data from archaeological human remains reflecting a high diversity of Treponema pallidumin early modern Europe. Our study demonstrates that a variety of strains related to both venereal syphilis and yaws-causing T. pallidum subspecies were already present in Northern Europe in the early modern period. We also discovered a previously unknown T. pallidum lineage recovered as a sister group to yaws- and bejel-causing lineages. These findings imply a more complex pattern of geographical distribution and etiology of early treponemal epidemics than previously understood.

Datos de la publicación

ISSN/ISSNe:
0960-9822, 1879-0445

CURRENT BIOLOGY  Cell Press

Tipo:
Article
Páginas:
3788-3803
PubMed:
32795443

Citas Recibidas en Web of Science: 47

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