The Origin of a Killer Revealed by Bronze Age Yersinia Genomes

Shijulal Nelson-Sathi; William F Martin

doi:10.1016/j.chom.2015.10.016

The Origin of a Killer Revealed by Bronze Age Yersinia Genomes

Cell Host Microbe. 2015 Nov 11;18(5):513-4. doi: 10.1016/j.chom.2015.10.016.

Authors

Shijulal Nelson-Sathi¹, William F Martin²

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Molecular Evolution, Heinrich-Heine University, 40225 Düsseldorf, Germany. Electronic address: shijulalns@hhu.de.
² Institute of Molecular Evolution, Heinrich-Heine University, 40225 Düsseldorf, Germany. Electronic address: bill@hhu.de.

PMID: 26567502
DOI: 10.1016/j.chom.2015.10.016

Abstract

Bubonic plaque is caused by Yersinia pestis, a deadly pathogen that left deep scars in human history. Rasmussen et al. (2015) have now retrieved Y. pestis genomes from 2,800- to 5,000-year-old human teeth, shedding new light on origins of the strain that brought Black Death to Europe 670 years ago.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Comment

MeSH terms

Humans
Plague
Yersinia pestis*
Yersinia*