Yersinia Pestis: New Evidence for an Old Infection
Studies of aDNA is multiplying these years. Recent studies of aDNA has shown the increasing likelihood that Justinians Plague was caused by Yesinia Pestis
Very tiny remnants of human tissue from teeth, bone-marrow or other tissue are nowadays enough to do rapid and cost-effective DNA sequencing. This has helped tremendously to increase the acquisition of data – also from historical samples. By comparing DNA from the same species dated from different time periods, it is even possible to discern evolutionary histories.
The successful reconstruction of an ancient bacterial genome form Y. pestis from archaeological material presents an important methodological advancement for infectious disease research. This method has been around for some time. Recently, however a group of scientists added to their original analysis of the Yersinia pestis strain implicated in the Black Death by consolidating this with data for an additional 289 strains.
The inclusion of this additional data reveals a cluster of Y. pestis strains, which diverge at a time significantly in advance of the Black Death, with divergence dates roughly coincident with the Plague of Justinian (6th to 8th century AD). The Plague of Justinian (541–542 AD) was a pandemic that afflicted the Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantine Empire), including its capital Constantinople. It has been claimed as one of the greatest plagues in history.
Based on similarity in mortality levels, geographic distribution, and recorded symptoms, historians have long suspected that the same bacteria might have caused the Plague of Justinian. The new evidence points further in this direction.
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Yersinia pestis: New Evidence for an Old Infection.
By Bos KI, Stevens P, Nieselt K, Poinar HN, DeWitte SN, et al.
In: PLoS ONE 2012, 7(11): e49803. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0049803
