Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, Munich, Germany.
State Collection for Anthropology and Palaeoanatomy, Munich, Germany.
PLoS One. 2016 Jan 13;11(1):e0145194. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0145194. eCollection 2016.
Ancient DNA (aDNA) recovered from plague victims of the second plague pandemic (14th to 17th century), excavated from two different burial sites in Germany, and spanning a time period of more than 300 years, was characterized using single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) analysis. Of 30 tested skeletons 8 were positive for Yersinia pestis-specific nucleic acid, as determined by qPCR targeting the pla gene. In one individual (MP-19-II), the pla copy number in DNA extracted from tooth pulp was as high as 700 gene copies/μl, indicating severe generalized infection. All positive individuals were identical in all 16 SNP positions, separating phylogenetic branches within nodes N07_N10 (14 SNPs), N07_N08 (SNP s19) and N06_N07 (s545), and were highly similar to previously investigated plague victims from other European countries. Thus, beside the assumed continuous reintroduction of Y. pestis from central Asia in multiple waves during the second pandemic, long-term persistence of Y. pestis in Europe in a yet unknown reservoir host has also to be considered.
从德国两个不同的墓地挖掘出的第二次鼠疫大流行（14 至 17 世纪）鼠疫受害者的古 DNA（aDNA），跨越 300 多年的时间跨度，使用单核苷酸多态性（SNP）分析进行了表征。在 30 个测试的骨骼中，有 8 个对鼠疫耶尔森氏菌特异性核酸呈阳性，这是通过针对 pla 基因的 qPCR 确定的。在一个个体（MP-19-II）中，从牙髓中提取的 DNA 中的 pla 拷贝数高达 700 个基因拷贝/μl，表明存在严重的全身性感染。所有阳性个体在所有 16 个 SNP 位置上都是相同的，将 N07_N10（14 个 SNP）、N07_N08（SNP s19）和 N06_N07（s545）内的进化枝分开，与来自其他欧洲国家的先前调查的鼠疫受害者非常相似。因此，除了在第二次大流行期间假定的 Y. pestis 从中亚连续多次重新引入之外，还必须考虑到 Y. pestis 在欧洲未知的储存宿主中的长期存在。
