ArticleNature communications2018
Analysis of 3800-year-old Yersinia pestis genomes suggests Bronze Age origin for bubonic plague.
Article in Nature communications, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 78 papers.
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78 citing papers in PubMed, 190 citations in OpenAlex.
- Ancient DNA and Human Physiology.Physiology (Bethesda, Md.) · 2026Review
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- A prehistoric East-Asian Yersinia pestis genome and a ~5.3 ka trans-Eurasian expansion of plague.Nature communications · 2026Article
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- Insights into human adaptation from ancient DNA.Nature genetics · 2026Review
- A prospective cohort study to describe the morphology of buboes in patients with bubonic plague using ultrasound imaging.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2026Article
- Rethinking TYK2 P1104A: a flawed evolutionary trade-off in tuberculosis?Frontiers in immunology · 2026Review
- Ancient DNA insights into diverse pathogens and their hosts.Nature reviews. Genetics · 2026Review
- Interaction of Bacteria and Fleas, Focusing on the Plague Bacterium-A Review.Microorganisms · 2025Review
- Ancient Origins and Global Diversity of Plague: Genomic Evidence for Deep Eurasian Reservoirs and Recurrent Emergence.Pathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
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- Evidence of a role for the F1 capsule ofmBio · 2025Article
- Global natural history infrastructure requires international solidarity, support, and investment in local capacity.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2025Article
- Elucidation of peptide screen for targeted identification of Yersinia pestis by nano-liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Hotspots of genetic change in Yersinia pestis.Nature communications · 2025Article
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- Systematic analysis of spontaneous tandem genome amplification events in Yersinia pestis.PloS one · 2025Article
- Development of Effective Medical Countermeasures Against the Main Biowarfare Agents: The Importance of Antibodies.Microorganisms · 2024Review
- Pervasive findings of directional selection realize the promise of ancient DNA to elucidate human adaptation.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2024Article
- Differential pathogenicity and lethality of bubonic plague (1720-1945) by sex, age and place.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2024Article
18 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
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Authors and funding
12 authors at 7 institutions in 4 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The origin of Yersinia pestis and the early stages of its evolution are fundamental subjects of investigation given its high virulence and mortality that resulted from past pandemics. Although the earliest evidence of Y. pestis infections in humans has been identified in Late Neolithic/Bronze Age Eurasia (LNBA 5000-3500y BP), these strains lack key genetic components required for flea adaptation, thus making their mode of transmission and disease presentation in humans unclear. Here, we reconstruct ancient Y. pestis genomes from individuals associated with the Late Bronze Age period (~3800 BP) in the Samara region of modern-day Russia. We show clear distinctions between our new strains and the LNBA lineage, and suggest that the full ability for flea-mediated transmission causing bubonic plague evolved more than 1000 years earlier than previously suggested. Finally, we propose that several Y. pestis lineages were established during the Bronze Age, some of which persist to the present day.
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