Electrical engineering

Sociology

Archaeology

Ancient DNA

Yersinia pestis

Population

Evolutionary biology

Biology

Ecological niche

Gene

Host (biology)

Outbreak

Demography

Engineering

Evolutionary ecology

Habitat

Virology

Geography

Ecology

Plague (disease)

Context (archaeology)

Genetics

Virulence

Transmission (telecommunications)

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

Significance The bacterium Yersinia pestis has caused numerous historically documented outbreaks of plague and research using ancient DNA could demonstrate that it already affected human populations during the Neolithic. However, the pathogen’s genetic diversity, geographic spread, and transmission dynamics during this early period of Y. pestis evolution are largely unexplored. Here, we describe a set of ancient plague genomes up to 5,000 y old from across Eurasia. Our data demonstrate that two genetically distinct forms of Y. pestis evolved in parallel and were both distributed across vast geographic distances, potentially occupying different ecological niches. Interpreted within the archeological context, our results suggest that the spread of plague during this period was linked to increased human mobility and intensification of animal husbandry.

Stone Age <i>Yersinia pestis</i> genomes shed light on the early evolution, diversity, and ecology of plague

Stone Age Yersinia pestis genomes shed light on the early evolution, diversity, and ecology of plague