Swali Pooja, Booth Thomas, Tan Cedric C S, McCabe Jesse, Anastasiadou Kyriaki, Barrington Christopher, Borrini Matteo, Bricking Adelle, Buckberry Jo, Büster Lindsey, Carlin Rea, Gilardet Alexandre, Glocke Isabelle, Irish Joel D, Kelly Monica, King Megan, Petchey Fiona, Peto Jessica, Silva Marina, Speidel Leo, Tait Frankie, Teoaca Adelina, Valoriani Satu, Williams Mia, Madgwick Richard, Mullan Graham, Wilson Linda, Cootes Kevin, Armit Ian, Gutierrez Maximiliano G, van Dorp Lucy, Skoglund Pontus
UCL Genetics Institute, Department of Genetics, Evolution, and Environment, University College London, London, UK.
Ancient Genomics Laboratory, The Francis Crick Institute, London, UK.
Science. 2025 May 22;388(6749):eadr2147. doi: 10.1126/science.adr2147.
Several bacterial pathogens have transitioned from tick-borne to louse-borne transmission, which often involves genome reduction and increasing virulence. However, the timing of such transitions remains unclear. We sequenced four ancient genomes, the agent of louse-borne relapsing fever, dating from 2300 to 600 years ago. We estimated the divergence from its closest tick-borne relative to 6000 to 4000 years ago, which suggests an emergence coinciding with human lifestyle changes such as the advent of wool-based textiles. Pan-genome analysis indicated that much of the evolution characteristic of had occurred by ~2300 years ago, though further gene turnover, particularly in plasmid partitioning, persisted until ~1000 years ago. Our findings provide a direct genomic chronology of the evolution of this specialized vector-borne pathogen.
几种细菌病原体已从蜱传播转变为虱传播，这通常涉及基因组缩减和毒力增强。然而，这种转变的时间仍不清楚。我们对四个古老基因组进行了测序，这些基因组来自于2300至600年前传播虱传回归热的病原体。我们估计它与最接近的蜱传亲缘物种的分化时间为6000至4000年前，这表明其出现与人类生活方式的变化（如羊毛纺织品的出现）相吻合。泛基因组分析表明，大部分进化特征在约2300年前就已出现，不过进一步的基因更替，尤其是在质粒分配方面，一直持续到约1000年前。我们的研究结果提供了这种专门的媒介传播病原体进化的直接基因组年表。
