title: Phylogeography of Francisella tularensis from Tibet, China: Evidence for an asian origin and radiation of holarctica-type Tularemia.
abstract: The geographical origin and radiation of holarctica-type tularemia, which has spread across the northern hemisphere, is open to scientific debate. Here, through phylogenetics, we show that five Tibetan Francisella tularensis isolates subsp. holarctica cluster between basal-positioned Japanese isolates and all other subspecies strains in the world, providing evidence for a previously unknown intermediate lineage next to the Japanese isolates. Importantly, identification of this new intermediate lineage complements current knowledge of tularemia epidemiology, supporting a geographical origin and radiation of the subsp. holarctica in Asia. In addition, thirteen Tibetan isolates belonging to a clade previously found only in North America and Scandinavia, further increases the diversity of holarctica strains in Asia. In summary, this study provides evidence for an Asian origin and radiation of holarctica-type tularemia.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Pathogen and Biosecurity, Beijing Institute of Microbiology and Epidemiology, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Yongfeng
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Pathogen and Biosecurity, Beijing Institute of Microbiology and Epidemiology, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Yonghui
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Pathogen and Biosecurity, Beijing Institute of Microbiology and Epidemiology, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Le
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Feng
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Pathogen and Biosecurity, Beijing Institute of Microbiology and Epidemiology, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Yanwei
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Pathogen and Biosecurity, Beijing Institute of Microbiology and Epidemiology, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: He
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Pathogen and Biosecurity, Beijing Institute of Microbiology and Epidemiology, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Hong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Pathogen and Biosecurity, Beijing Institute of Microbiology and Epidemiology, Beijing, China. Electronic address: duanq@nic.bmi.ac.cn.
authors.forename: Qing
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Duan
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Pathogen and Biosecurity, Beijing Institute of Microbiology and Epidemiology, Beijing, China. Electronic address: songlihua@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Lihua
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Song
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001208:Asia / Q000453:epidemiology; D015373:Bacterial Typing Techniques / Q000379:methods; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000302:isolation & purification; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D005604:Francisella tularensis / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D014644:Genetic Variation; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D009656:North America / Q000453:epidemiology; D010802:Phylogeny; D058974:Phylogeography; D012537:Scandinavian and Nordic Countries / Q000453:epidemiology; D018609:Tibet / Q000453:epidemiology; D013987:Ticks / Q000382:microbiology; D014406:Tularemia / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology
chemical_list: D004269:DNA, Bacterial
keywords: Evolution; Francisella tularensis; Holarctica; Phylogeography; Tularemia