% pubman genre = article @article{item_3378559, title = {{Stone Age Yersinia pestis genomes shed light on the early evolution, diversity, and ecology of plague}}, author = {Andrades Valtue{\~n}a, Aida and Neumann, Gunnar and Spyrou, Maria A. and Musralina, Lyazzat and Aron, Franziska and Beisenov, Arman and Belinskiy, Andrey B. and Bos, Kirsten I. and Buzhilova, Alexandra and Conrad, Matthias and Djansugurova, Leyla B. and Dobe{\v{s}}, Miroslav and Ern{\'e}e, Michal and Fern{\'a}ndez-Eraso, Javier and Frohlich, Bruno and Furmanek, Miros{\l}aw and Ha{\l}uszko, Agata and Hansen, Svend and Harney, {\'E}adaoin and Hiss, Alina N. and H{\"u}bner, Alexander and Key, Felix Michael and Khussainova, Elmira and Kitov, Egor and Kitova, Alexandra O. and Knipper, Corina and K{\"u}hnert, Denise and Lalueza-Fox, Carles and Littleton, Judith and Massy, Ken and Mittnik, Alissa and Mujika-Alustiza, Jos{\'e} Antonio and Olalde, I{\~n}igo and Papac, Luka and Penske, Sandra Ellen and Pe{\v{s}}ka, Jaroslav and Pinhasi, Ron and Reich, David and Reinhold, Sabine and Stahl, Raphaela and St{\"a}uble, Harald and Tukhbatova, Rezeda I. and Vasilyev, Sergey and Veselovskaya, Elizaveta and Warinner, Christina G. and Stockhammer, Philipp W. and Haak, Wolfgang and Krause, Johannes and Herbig, Alexander}, language = {eng}, issn = {0027-8424}, doi = {10.1073/pnas.2116722119}, publisher = {National Academy of Sciences}, address = {Washington, D.C.}, year = {2022}, date = {2022}, abstract = {{The bacterial pathogenYersinia pestisgave rise to devastating outbreaks throughouthuman history, and ancient DNA evidence has shown it afflicted human populations asfar back as the Neolithic.Y. pestisgenomes recovered from the Eurasian Late Neolithic/Early Bronze Age (LNBA) period have uncovered key evolutionary steps that led to itsemergence from aYersinia pseudotuberculosis-like progenitor; however, the number ofreconstructed LNBA genomes are too few to explore its diversity during this criticalperiod of development. Here, we present 17Y. pestisgenomes dating to 5,000 to 2,500y BP from a wide geographic expanse across Eurasia. This increased dataset enabled usto explore correlations between temporal, geographical, and genetic distance. Ourresults suggest a nonflea-adapted and potentially extinct single lineage that persistedover millennia without significant parallel diversification, accompanied by rapid dis-persal across continents throughout this period, a trend not observed in other pathogensfor which ancient genomes are available. A stepwise pattern of gene loss provides fur-ther clues on its early evolution and potential adaptation. We also discover the presenceof theflea-adapted form ofY. pestisin Bronze Age Iberia, previously only identified inin the Caucasus and the Volga regions, suggesting a much wider geographic spread ofthis form ofY. pestis. Together, these data reveal the dynamic nature of plague{\textquoteright}s forma-tive years in terms of its early evolution and ecology.}}, journal = {{Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America}}, volume = {119}, number = {17}, eid = {2116722119}, }