A genomic and historical synthesis of plague in 18th century Eurasia

Meriam Guellil; Oliver Kersten; Amine Namouchi; Stefania Luciani; Isolina Marota; Caroline A Arcini; Elisabeth Iregren; Robert A Lindemann; Gunnar Warfvinge; Lela Bakanidze; Lia Bitadze; Mauro Rubini; Paola Zaio; Monica Zaio; Damiano Neri; N C Stenseth; Barbara Bramanti

doi:10.1073/pnas.2009677117

A genomic and historical synthesis of plague in 18th century Eurasia

Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2020 Nov 10;117(45):28328-28335. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2009677117. Epub 2020 Oct 26.

Authors

Meriam Guellil^{1

2}, Oliver Kersten³, Amine Namouchi^{3

4}, Stefania Luciani⁵, Isolina Marota⁵, Caroline A Arcini⁶, Elisabeth Iregren⁷, Robert A Lindemann⁸, Gunnar Warfvinge⁹, Lela Bakanidze¹⁰, Lia Bitadze¹¹, Mauro Rubini^{12

13}, Paola Zaio¹², Monica Zaio¹², Damiano Neri¹², N C Stenseth¹, Barbara Bramanti^{1

2

14}

Affiliations

¹ Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis, Department of Biosciences, University of Oslo, 0316 Oslo, Norway; meriam.guellil.ac@gmail.com n.c.stenseth@mn.uio.no barbara.bramanti@ibv.uio.no.
² Institute of Genomics, University of Tartu, 51010 Tartu, Estonia.
³ Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis, Department of Biosciences, University of Oslo, 0316 Oslo, Norway.
⁴ Centre for Integrative Genetics, Department of Animal and Aquacultural Sciences, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, 1430 Ås, Norway.
⁵ Laboratory of Molecular Archaeo-Anthropology/ancientDNA, School of Biosciences and Veterinary Medicine, University of Camerino, 62032 Camerino, Italy.
⁶ Arkeologerna, National Historical Museums, SE-226 60 Lund, Sweden.
⁷ Department of Archaeology and Ancient History, Lund University, SE-221 00, Lund, Sweden.
⁸ School of Dentistry, University of California Los Angeles, CA 90024.
⁹ Faculty of Odontology, Malmö University, SE-205 06 Malmö, Sweden.
¹⁰ National Center for Disease Control and Public Health, 0198 Tbilisi, Georgia.
¹¹ Anthropological Studies of the Institute of History and Ethnology, Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University, 0177 Tbilisi, Georgia.
¹² Anthropological Service of Soprintendenza Archeologia Belle Arti e Paesaggio per le province di Frosinone, Latina e Rieti (Lazio), Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities, 00192 Rome, Italy.
¹³ Department of Archaeology, University of Foggia, 71122 Foggia, Italy.
¹⁴ Department of Biomedical and Specialty Surgical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Pharmacy and Prevention, University of Ferrara, 44121 Ferrara, Italy.

Abstract

Plague continued to afflict Europe for more than five centuries after the Black Death. Yet, by the 17th century, the dynamics of plague had changed, leading to its slow decline in Western Europe over the subsequent 200 y, a period for which only one genome was previously available. Using a multidisciplinary approach, combining genomic and historical data, we assembled Y. pestis genomes from nine individuals covering four Eurasian sites and placed them into an historical context within the established phylogeny. CHE1 (Chechnya, Russia, 18th century) is now the latest Second Plague Pandemic genome and the first non-European sample in the post-Black Death lineage. Its placement in the phylogeny and our synthesis point toward the existence of an extra-European reservoir feeding plague into Western Europe in multiple waves. By considering socioeconomic, ecological, and climatic factors we highlight the importance of a noneurocentric approach for the discussion on Second Plague Pandemic dynamics in Europe.

Keywords: Yersinia pestis; aDNA; ancient DNA; pathogen; plague.

Publication types

Historical Article
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

DNA, Bacterial
Europe
Genome, Bacterial*
History, 18th Century
History, Medieval
Humans
Pandemics / history
Phylogeny
Plague / genetics
Plague / history*
Plague / microbiology*
Russia
Yersinia pestis / classification
Yersinia pestis / genetics*

Substances

DNA, Bacterial