Confirmation of the ancestors of Yersinia pestis that caused black death from the DNA of the dead
The plague epidemic that struck Europe in the mid-14th century was feared under the name ' black death' due to the appearance of black spots on the skin, causing up to 60% of the population to die in some areas. .. Past records showed that the plague came from the east, but it was unclear exactly where it came from, but a new investigation using past bodies resulted in black death. It turns out that the ancestors of Yersinia pestis killed many people in
Ancient DNA traces origin of Black Death
https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-022-01673-4
The research was done by the paleogeneticist Johannes Klaus of the Max Planck Institute and Philip Slavin of the University of Stirling.
'Black Death' is a plague pandemic that struck Europe from 1346 to 1353. Records indicate an outbreak in the Mongolian army that surrounded the town of Kaffa on the Crimean Peninsula in 1346, which indicates that the Caucasus and Central Asia are potential sources of 'black death'. Has been considered.
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Klaus and Slavin found many tombstones built in 1338 and 1339 at the Kara Zigach Cemetery and the Brana Cemetery, where the people who died in the 14th century were buried in Kyrgyzstan, of which 10 were 'plagues.' Note that it was clearly stated that he died in. We tracked the bodies that were dug up in the 1880s and 1890s and transferred to St. Petersburg, Russia, and recovered seven of them.
A team of archaeologist Maria Spiro and others found the DNA of Yersinia pestis in three bodies buried in the Kara Zigach Cemetery. In addition, a complete pair of Yersinia pestis genomes collected showed that this 'Kara Zigach strain' was a direct ancestor of the strain associated with black death. The Kala Zigach strain is also the ancestor of the Yersinia pestis sample of a person who died in London, collected by Klaus's team in 2011, and is the ancestor of the majority of the current Yersinia pestis lineage. .. Klaus points out that the plague bacterium of the 14th century had a diversification that could be called the so-called 'big bang of plague.'
In addition, this 'Kara Zigach strain' seems to be closely related to the strains obtained from rodents such as Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan near the Tianshan Mountains and marmots in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.
Rodents are creatures like the 'natural reservoir of Yersinia pestis', and humans can also infect plague through mediators such as fleas. Black death is believed to have been spread by mice, but prior to that, it is believed that there was an epidemic in Kyrgyzstan due to close contact between plague-infected rodents and humans.
And since the Tian Shan Mountains are a transit point on the ancient Silk Road, and pearls from the Indian Ocean, corals from the Mediterranean Sea, and foreign coins have been found in the Kyrgyz graveyard, trade is important for spreading pathogens to the west. Mr. Slavin predicts that he may have played a role.
by Chen Zhao
Medieval historian Monica Green said of the study, 'Obtaining the genome from the plague bacterium, the ancestor of black death, is a tremendous breakthrough.' 'The tombstone is as close as possible to a'death certificate'and you can see that this strain of Yersinia pestis has existed since that time,' he said. Not sure if this happened, and genetic, ecological, and historical evidence suggest that the expansion of the Mongolian empire in the 13th century encouraged the proliferation and diversification of strains that would later cause black death. It shows the idea that it was done.
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