Emergence and Spread of Basal Lineages of Yersinia pestis during the Neolithic Decline

Nicolas Rascovan (1) , Karl-Göran Sjögren (2) , Kristian Kristiansen (2) , Rasmus Nielsen (3) , Eske Willerslev (4) , Christelle Desnues (1) , Simon Rasmussen (5)

1 MEPHI - Microbes évolution phylogénie et infections
2 GU - Göteborgs Universitet = University of Gothenburg
3 Dept Integrat Biol
4 Section for GeoGenetics
5 UCPH - University of Copenhagen = Københavns Universitet

Graphical Abstract Highlights d Discovery of the most ancient case of plague in humans, 4,900 years ago in Sweden d Basal lineages of Y. pestis emerged and spread during the Neolithic decline d Plague infections in distinct Eurasian populations during Neolithic and Bronze Age d A plague pandemic likely emerged in large settlements and spread over trade routes In Brief The genome of an ancient strain of Yersinia pestis from Neolithic farmers 4,900 years ago represents the oldest discovered case of the plague and allows characterization of the spread and diversification of multiple basal lineages, potentially contributing to the Neolithic decline.

Mots clés: Yersinia pestis; plague; ancient DNA; Neolithic decline; mega settlements; pathogen evolution; emergence and spread of infectious diseases; metagenomics

Domaines: Anthropologie biologique; Bio-Informatique, Biologie Systémique [q-bio.QM]; Bactériologie

Nicolas Rascovan, Karl-Göran Sjögren, Kristian Kristiansen, Rasmus Nielsen, Eske Willerslev, et al.. Emergence and Spread of Basal Lineages of Yersinia pestis during the Neolithic Decline. Cell, 2019, 176 (1-2), pp.295-305.e10. ⟨10.1016/j.cell.2018.11.005⟩. ⟨hal-01995290⟩