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Ancient bacterial genomes reveal a formerly unknown diversity of Treponema pallidum strains in early modern Europe

Kerttu Majander, Saskia Pfrengle, Judith Neukamm, Arthur Kocher, Louis du Plessis, Marta Pla-Díaz, Natasha Arora, Gülfirde Akgül, Kati Salo, Rachel Schats, Sarah Inskip, Markku Oinonen, Heiki Valk, Martin Malve, Aivar Kriiska, Päivi Onkamo, Fernando González-Candelas, Denise Kühnert, Johannes Krause, Verena J. Schuenemann
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.06.09.142547
Kerttu Majander
1Institute of Evolutionary Medicine, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland
2Institute for Archaeological Sciences, University of Tübingen, Rümelinstrasse 19-23, 72070 Tübingen, Germany
3Department of Archaeogenetics, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Kahlaische Strasse 10, 07745 Jena, Germany
4Department of Biosciences, University of Helsinki, Viikinkaari 9, 00014 Helsinki, Finland
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  • For correspondence: kerttu.majander@uzh.ch krause@shh.mpg.de verena.schuenemann@iem.uzh.ch
Saskia Pfrengle
1Institute of Evolutionary Medicine, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland
2Institute for Archaeological Sciences, University of Tübingen, Rümelinstrasse 19-23, 72070 Tübingen, Germany
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Judith Neukamm
1Institute of Evolutionary Medicine, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland
2Institute for Archaeological Sciences, University of Tübingen, Rümelinstrasse 19-23, 72070 Tübingen, Germany
5Institute for Bioinformatics and Medical Informatics, University of Tübingen, Sand 14, 72076 Tübingen, Germany
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Arthur Kocher
6Transmission, Infection, Diversification and Evolution Group, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Kahlaische Strasse 10, 07745 Jena, Germany
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Louis du Plessis
7Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3SY, UK
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Marta Pla-Díaz
8Joint Research Unit “Infection and Public Health” FISABIO-University of Valencia, Institute for Integrative Systems Biology (I2SysBio), Valencia, Spain
16CIBER de Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Spain
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Natasha Arora
9Zurich Institute of Forensic Medicine, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190/52 8057 Zurich, Switzerland
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Gülfirde Akgül
1Institute of Evolutionary Medicine, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland
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Kati Salo
10Archaeology, Faculty of Arts, University of Helsinki, Unioninkatu 38F, 00014 Helsinki, Finland
4Department of Biosciences, University of Helsinki, Viikinkaari 9, 00014 Helsinki, Finland
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Rachel Schats
11Laboratory for Human Osteoarchaeology, Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden University, Einsteinweg 2, 2333CC Leiden, The Netherlands
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Sarah Inskip
12McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge, CB2 3ER, UK
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Markku Oinonen
13Laboratory of Chronology, Finnish Museum of Natural History, University of Helsinki, Gustaf Hällströmin katu 2, 00560 Helsinki, Finland
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Heiki Valk
14Institute of History and Archaeology, University of Tartu, Jakobi 2, 51005 Tartu, Tartumaa, Estonia
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Martin Malve
14Institute of History and Archaeology, University of Tartu, Jakobi 2, 51005 Tartu, Tartumaa, Estonia
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Aivar Kriiska
14Institute of History and Archaeology, University of Tartu, Jakobi 2, 51005 Tartu, Tartumaa, Estonia
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Päivi Onkamo
4Department of Biosciences, University of Helsinki, Viikinkaari 9, 00014 Helsinki, Finland
15Department of Biology, University of Turku, Vesilinnantie 5, 20500 Turku, Finland
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Fernando González-Candelas
8Joint Research Unit “Infection and Public Health” FISABIO-University of Valencia, Institute for Integrative Systems Biology (I2SysBio), Valencia, Spain
16CIBER de Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Spain
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Denise Kühnert
6Transmission, Infection, Diversification and Evolution Group, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Kahlaische Strasse 10, 07745 Jena, Germany
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Johannes Krause
2Institute for Archaeological Sciences, University of Tübingen, Rümelinstrasse 19-23, 72070 Tübingen, Germany
3Department of Archaeogenetics, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Kahlaische Strasse 10, 07745 Jena, Germany
17Senckenberg Centre for Human Evolution and Palaeoenvironment (S-HEP), University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
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  • For correspondence: kerttu.majander@uzh.ch krause@shh.mpg.de verena.schuenemann@iem.uzh.ch
Verena J. Schuenemann
1Institute of Evolutionary Medicine, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland
2Institute for Archaeological Sciences, University of Tübingen, Rümelinstrasse 19-23, 72070 Tübingen, Germany
17Senckenberg Centre for Human Evolution and Palaeoenvironment (S-HEP), University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
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  • For correspondence: kerttu.majander@uzh.ch krause@shh.mpg.de verena.schuenemann@iem.uzh.ch
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Summary

Sexually transmitted (venereal) syphilis marked European history with a devastating epidemic at the end of the 15th century, and is currently re-emerging globally. Together with non-venereal treponemal diseases, like bejel and yaws, found in subtropical and tropical regions, it poses a prevailing health threat worldwide. The origins and spread of treponemal diseases remain unresolved, including syphilis’ potential introduction into Europe from the Americas. Here, we present the first genetic data from archaeological human remains reflecting a previously unknown diversity of Treponema pallidum in historical Europe. Our study demonstrates that a variety of strains related to both venereal syphilis and yaws were already present in Northern Europe in the early modern period. We also discovered a previously unknown T. pallidum lineage recovered as a sister group to yaws and bejel. These findings imply a more complex pattern of geographical prevalence and etiology of early treponemal epidemics than previously understood.

Competing Interest Statement

The authors have declared no competing interest.

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The copyright holder for this preprint is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under a CC-BY 4.0 International license.
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Posted June 10, 2020.
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Ancient bacterial genomes reveal a formerly unknown diversity of Treponema pallidum strains in early modern Europe
Kerttu Majander, Saskia Pfrengle, Judith Neukamm, Arthur Kocher, Louis du Plessis, Marta Pla-Díaz, Natasha Arora, Gülfirde Akgül, Kati Salo, Rachel Schats, Sarah Inskip, Markku Oinonen, Heiki Valk, Martin Malve, Aivar Kriiska, Päivi Onkamo, Fernando González-Candelas, Denise Kühnert, Johannes Krause, Verena J. Schuenemann
bioRxiv 2020.06.09.142547; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.06.09.142547
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Ancient bacterial genomes reveal a formerly unknown diversity of Treponema pallidum strains in early modern Europe
Kerttu Majander, Saskia Pfrengle, Judith Neukamm, Arthur Kocher, Louis du Plessis, Marta Pla-Díaz, Natasha Arora, Gülfirde Akgül, Kati Salo, Rachel Schats, Sarah Inskip, Markku Oinonen, Heiki Valk, Martin Malve, Aivar Kriiska, Päivi Onkamo, Fernando González-Candelas, Denise Kühnert, Johannes Krause, Verena J. Schuenemann
bioRxiv 2020.06.09.142547; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.06.09.142547

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