TY - JOUR
KW - Bone and Bones
KW - Denmark
KW - DNA, Bacterial
KW - Endemic Diseases
KW - Evolution, Molecular
KW - Genome, Bacterial
KW - History, Medieval
KW - Humans
KW - leprosy
KW - Mycobacterium leprae
KW - Mycolic Acids
KW - Phylogeny
KW - Sweden
KW - Tooth
KW - United Kingdom
AU - Schuenemann V
AU - Singh P
AU - Mendum T
AU - Krause-Kyora B
AU - Jäger G
AU - Bos K
AU - Herbig A
AU - Economou C
AU - Benjak A
AU - Busso P
AU - Nebel A
AU - Boldsen J
AU - Kjellström A
AU - Wu H
AU - Stewart GR
AU - Taylor MG
AU - Bauer P
AU - Lee O
AU - Wu H
AU - Minnikin D
AU - Besra G
AU - Tucker K
AU - Roffey S
AU - Sow S
AU - Cole S
AU - Nieselt K
AU - Krause J
AB - <p>Leprosy was endemic in Europe until the Middle Ages. Using DNA array capture, we have obtained genome sequences of Mycobacterium leprae from skeletons of five medieval leprosy cases from the United Kingdom, Sweden, and Denmark. In one case, the DNA was so well preserved that full de novo assembly of the ancient bacterial genome could be achieved through shotgun sequencing alone. The ancient M. leprae sequences were compared with those of 11 modern strains, representing diverse genotypes and geographic origins. The comparisons revealed remarkable genomic conservation during the past 1000 years, a European origin for leprosy in the Americas, and the presence of an M. leprae genotype in medieval Europe now commonly associated with the Middle East. The exceptional preservation of M. leprae biomarkers, both DNA and mycolic acids, in ancient skeletons has major implications for palaeomicrobiology and human pathogen evolution. </p>
BT - Science (New York, N.Y.)
C1 - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23765279?dopt=Abstract
CN - SCHUENEMANN 2013
DA - 2013 Jul 12
DO - 10.1126/science.1238286
IS - 6142
J2 - Science
LA - eng
N2 - <p>Leprosy was endemic in Europe until the Middle Ages. Using DNA array capture, we have obtained genome sequences of Mycobacterium leprae from skeletons of five medieval leprosy cases from the United Kingdom, Sweden, and Denmark. In one case, the DNA was so well preserved that full de novo assembly of the ancient bacterial genome could be achieved through shotgun sequencing alone. The ancient M. leprae sequences were compared with those of 11 modern strains, representing diverse genotypes and geographic origins. The comparisons revealed remarkable genomic conservation during the past 1000 years, a European origin for leprosy in the Americas, and the presence of an M. leprae genotype in medieval Europe now commonly associated with the Middle East. The exceptional preservation of M. leprae biomarkers, both DNA and mycolic acids, in ancient skeletons has major implications for palaeomicrobiology and human pathogen evolution. </p>
PY - 2013
SP - 179
EP - 83
T2 - Science (New York, N.Y.)
TI - Genome-wide comparison of medieval and modern Mycobacterium leprae.
UR - http://science.sciencemag.org/content/341/6142/179
VL - 341
SN - 1095-9203
ER -