Skip to content
Home
About Us
Resources
Profiles Metrics
Authors Directory
Institutions Directory
Top Authors
Top Institutions
Top Sponsors
AI Digest
Contact Us
Menu
Home
About Us
Resources
Profiles Metrics
Authors Directory
Institutions Directory
Top Authors
Top Institutions
Top Sponsors
AI Digest
Contact Us
Home
About Us
Resources
Profiles Metrics
Authors Directory
Institutions Directory
Top Authors
Top Institutions
Top Sponsors
AI Digest
Contact Us
Menu
Home
About Us
Resources
Profiles Metrics
Authors Directory
Institutions Directory
Top Authors
Top Institutions
Top Sponsors
AI Digest
Contact Us
Publication Details
AFRICAN RESEARCH NEXUS
SHINING A SPOTLIGHT ON AFRICAN RESEARCH
biochemistry, genetics and molecular biology
Distinct clones of Yersinia pestis caused the black death
PLoS Pathogens, Volume 6, No. 10, Article e1001134, Year 2010
Notification
URL copied to clipboard!
Description
From AD 1347 to AD 1353, the Black Death killed tens of millions of people in Europe, leaving misery and devastation in its wake, with successive epidemics ravaging the continent until the 18th century. The etiology of this disease has remained highly controversial, ranging from claims based on genetics and the historical descriptions of symptoms that it was caused by Yersinia pestis to conclusions that it must have been caused by other pathogens. It has also been disputed whether plague had the same etiology in northern and southern Europe. Here we identified DNA and protein signatures specific for Y. pestis in human skeletons from mass graves in northern, central and southern Europe that were associated archaeologically with the Black Death and subsequent resurgences. We confirm that Y. pestis caused the Black Death and later epidemics on the entire European continent over the course of four centuries. Furthermore, on the basis of 17 single nucleotide polymorphisms plus the absence of a deletion in glpD gene, our aDNA results identified two previously unknown but related clades of Y. pestis associated with distinct medieval mass graves. These findings suggest that plague was imported to Europe on two or more occasions, each following a distinct route. These two clades are ancestral to modern isolates of Y. pestis biovars Orientalis and Medievalis. Our results clarify the etiology of the Black Death and provide a paradigm for a detailed historical reconstruction of the infection routes followed by this disease. © 2010 Haensch et al.
Available Materials
https://efashare.b-cdn.net/share/pmc/articles/PMC2951374/bin/ppat.1001134.s001.doc
https://efashare.b-cdn.net/share/pmc/articles/PMC2951374/bin/ppat.1001134.s002.doc
https://efashare.b-cdn.net/share/pmc/articles/PMC2951374/bin/ppat.1001134.s003.doc
https://efashare.b-cdn.net/share/pmc/articles/PMC2951374/bin/ppat.1001134.s004.doc
https://efashare.b-cdn.net/share/pmc/articles/PMC2951374/bin/ppat.1001134.s005.doc
https://efashare.b-cdn.net/share/pmc/articles/PMC2951374/bin/ppat.1001134.s006.doc
Authors & Co-Authors
Bianucci, Raffaella
Italy, Turin
Università Degli Studi Di Torino
France, Saint-denis-la-plaine
Etablissement Français du Sang
Signoli, Michel
France, Saint-denis-la-plaine
Etablissement Français du Sang
France, Nice
Cultures et Envirronements, Préhistoire, Antiquité, Moyen-age
Rajerison, Minoarisoa Esther
Switzerland, Geneva
Organisation Mondiale de la Santé
Schultz, Michael
Germany, Gottingen
Georg-august-universität Göttingen
Weston, Darlene A.
Netherlands, Leiden
Leids Universitair Medisch Centrum
United Kingdom, Bradford
University of Bradford
Germany, Leipzig
Max-planck-institut Für Evolutionäre Anthropologie
Achtman, Mark
Ireland, Cork
University College Cork
Carniel, Élisabeth
France, Paris
Institut Pasteur, Paris
Statistics
Citations: 234
Authors: 7
Affiliations: 12
Identifiers
Doi:
10.1371/journal.ppat.1001134
ISSN:
15537366
Research Areas
Genetics And Genomics