title: Pathogeny of archaic mycobacteria at the emergence of urban life in Egypt (3400 BC).
abstract: In a previous study, we extracted, amplified and sequenced a DNA fragment from bone lesions similar to those of bone tuberculosis in a predynastic skeleton (Egypt, around 3400 BC). This 65 kDa gene fragment encodes the surface of the mycobacterium responsible for the lesions. In the present study, we reconstructed the phylogenetic tree of the Mycobacterium family using this fragment and 51 sequences of pathogens and environmental mycobacteria. This reconstruction enabled us to polarise the phylogenic tree and to confirm the originality of the sequence and its ancestral character. According to a recent evolutionary scenario for the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex, these data suggest the pathogenicity of an archaic mycobacterium at the emergence of urban life. This result could lead to a better understanding of present day evolutionary processes, especially the emergence or re-emergence of non-tuberculosis mycobacteria infection and disease.
authors.affiliation: UMR 8 555 du CNRS, Université Paul Sabatier, 31000 Toulouse, France. crubezy@cict.fr
authors.forename: Eric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Crubézy
authors.forename: Luc
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Legal
authors.forename: Ghislaine
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Fabas
authors.forename: Henri
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Dabernat
authors.forename: Bertrand
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Ludes
mesh_terms: D021821:Communicable Diseases, Emerging / Q000382:microbiology*; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000032:analysis*; D004534:Egypt / Q000453:epidemiology; D018732:Forensic Anthropology; D005580:Fossils; D006801:Humans; D009161:Mycobacterium / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000472:pathogenicity; D009164:Mycobacterium Infections / Q000453:epidemiology; D010802:Phylogeny; D014399:Tuberculosis, Spinal / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000235:genetics; D014505:Urban Population
chemical_list: D004269:DNA, Bacterial