title: Genome-wide comparison of medieval and modern Mycobacterium leprae.
abstract: Leprosy was endemic in Europe until the Middle Ages. Using DNA array capture, we have obtained genome sequences of Mycobacterium leprae from skeletons of five medieval leprosy cases from the United Kingdom, Sweden, and Denmark. In one case, the DNA was so well preserved that full de novo assembly of the ancient bacterial genome could be achieved through shotgun sequencing alone. The ancient M. leprae sequences were compared with those of 11 modern strains, representing diverse genotypes and geographic origins. The comparisons revealed remarkable genomic conservation during the past 1000 years, a European origin for leprosy in the Americas, and the presence of an M. leprae genotype in medieval Europe now commonly associated with the Middle East. The exceptional preservation of M. leprae biomarkers, both DNA and mycolic acids, in ancient skeletons has major implications for palaeomicrobiology and human pathogen evolution.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Archaeological Sciences, University of Tübingen, 72070 Tübingen, Germany.
authors.forename: Verena J
authors.initials: VJ
authors.lastname: Schuenemann
authors.forename: Pushpendra
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Singh
authors.forename: Thomas A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Mendum
authors.forename: Ben
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Krause-Kyora
authors.forename: Günter
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Jäger
authors.forename: Kirsten I
authors.initials: KI
authors.lastname: Bos
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Herbig
authors.forename: Christos
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Economou
authors.forename: Andrej
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Benjak
authors.forename: Philippe
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Busso
authors.forename: Almut
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nebel
authors.forename: Jesper L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Boldsen
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kjellström
authors.forename: Huihai
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Graham R
authors.initials: GR
authors.lastname: Stewart
authors.forename: G Michael
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Taylor
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bauer
authors.forename: Oona Y-C
authors.initials: OY
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Houdini H T
authors.initials: HH
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: David E
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Minnikin
authors.forename: Gurdyal S
authors.initials: GS
authors.lastname: Besra
authors.forename: Katie
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tucker
authors.forename: Simon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Roffey
authors.forename: Samba O
authors.initials: SO
authors.lastname: Sow
authors.forename: Stewart T
authors.initials: ST
authors.lastname: Cole
authors.forename: Kay
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nieselt
authors.forename: Johannes
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Krause
mesh_terms: D001842:Bone and Bones / Q000382:microbiology; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D003718:Denmark; D019353:Endemic Diseases / Q000266:history; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D016680:Genome, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics*; D049691:History, Medieval; D006801:Humans; D007918:Leprosy / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000266:history / Q000382:microbiology*; D009166:Mycobacterium leprae / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D009171:Mycolic Acids / Q000737:chemistry; D010802:Phylogeny; D013548:Sweden; D014070:Tooth / Q000382:microbiology; D006113:United Kingdom
chemical_list: D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D009171:Mycolic Acids