A 5,000-year-old hunter-gatherer already plagued by Yersinia pestis

Julian Susat; Harald Lübke; Alexander Immel; Ute Brinker; Aija Macāne; John Meadows; Britta Steer; Andreas Tholey; Ilga Zagorska; Guntis Gerhards; Ulrich Schmölcke; Mārcis Kalniņš; Andre Franke; Elīna Pētersone-Gordina; Barbara Teßman; Mari Tõrv; Stefan Schreiber; Christian Andree; Valdis Bērziņš; Almut Nebel; Ben Krause-Kyora

doi:10.1016/j.celrep.2021.109278

A 5,000-year-old hunter-gatherer already plagued by Yersinia pestis

Cell Rep. 2021 Jun 29;35(13):109278. doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2021.109278.

Authors

Julian Susat¹, Harald Lübke², Alexander Immel¹, Ute Brinker², Aija Macāne³, John Meadows⁴, Britta Steer⁵, Andreas Tholey⁵, Ilga Zagorska⁶, Guntis Gerhards⁶, Ulrich Schmölcke², Mārcis Kalniņš⁶, Andre Franke¹, Elīna Pētersone-Gordina⁶, Barbara Teßman⁷, Mari Tõrv⁸, Stefan Schreiber⁹, Christian Andree¹⁰, Valdis Bērziņš⁶, Almut Nebel¹, Ben Krause-Kyora¹¹

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Clinical Molecular Biology, Kiel University, Rosalind-Franklin-Str. 12, 24105 Kiel, Germany.
² Centre for Baltic and Scandinavian Archaeology (ZBSA), Schleswig-Holstein State Museums Foundation Schloss Gottorf, Schlossinsel 1, 24837 Schleswig, Germany.
³ Department of Historical Studies, University of Gothenburg, PO Box 200, SE405 30 Göteborg, Sweden.
⁴ Centre for Baltic and Scandinavian Archaeology (ZBSA), Schleswig-Holstein State Museums Foundation Schloss Gottorf, Schlossinsel 1, 24837 Schleswig, Germany; Leibniz Laboratory for AMS Dating and Isotope Research, Kiel University, Max-Eyth-Str. 11-13, 24118 Kiel, Germany.
⁵ Systematic Proteomics & Bioanalytics, Institute for Experimental Medicine, Kiel University, Niemannsweg 11, 24105 Kiel, Germany.
⁶ Institute of Latvian History, University of Latvia, Kalpaka bulv. 4, 1050 Riga, Latvia.
⁷ Berlin Society of Anthropology, Ethnology and Prehistory, c/o Museum of Pre- and Protohistory, Geschwister-Scholl-Str. 6, 10117 Berlin, Germany.
⁸ Department of Archaeology, Institute of History and Archaeology, University of Tartu, Jakobi 2, 51005 Tartu, Estonia.
⁹ Institute of Clinical Molecular Biology, Kiel University, Rosalind-Franklin-Str. 12, 24105 Kiel, Germany; Department of General Internal Medicine, University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein, Kiel University, Rosalind-Franklin-Str. 12, 24105 Kiel, Germany.
¹⁰ Research Center of Medical History, Kiel University, Breiter Weg 10, 24105 Kiel, Germany.
¹¹ Institute of Clinical Molecular Biology, Kiel University, Rosalind-Franklin-Str. 12, 24105 Kiel, Germany. Electronic address: b.krause-kyora@ikmb.uni-kiel.de.

PMID: 34192537
DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2021.109278

Abstract

A 5,000-year-old Yersinia pestis genome (RV 2039) is reconstructed from a hunter-fisher-gatherer (5300-5050 cal BP) buried at Riņņukalns, Latvia. RV 2039 is the first in a series of ancient strains that evolved shortly after the split of Y. pestis from its antecessor Y. pseudotuberculosis ∼7,000 years ago. The genomic and phylogenetic characteristics of RV 2039 are consistent with the hypothesis that this very early Y. pestis form was most likely less transmissible and maybe even less virulent than later strains. Our data do not support the scenario of a prehistoric pneumonic plague pandemic, as suggested previously for the Neolithic decline. The geographical and temporal distribution of the few prehistoric Y. pestis cases reported so far is more in agreement with single zoonotic events.

Keywords: Yersinia pestis; aDNA; hunter-gatherer; zoonosis.

Publication types

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

MeSH terms

Humans
Latvia
Likelihood Functions
Phylogeny
Plague / microbiology*
Yersinia pestis / physiology*