1
|
Mühlemann B, Vinner L, Margaryan A, Wilhelmson H, de la Fuente Castro C, Allentoft ME, de Barros Damgaard P, Hansen AJ, Holtsmark Nielsen S, Strand LM, Bill J, Buzhilova A, Pushkina T, Falys C, Khartanovich V, Moiseyev V, Jørkov MLS, Østergaard Sørensen P, Magnusson Y, Gustin I, Schroeder H, Sutter G, Smith GL, Drosten C, Fouchier RAM, Smith DJ, Willerslev E, Jones TC, Sikora M. Diverse variola virus (smallpox) strains were widespread in northern Europe in the Viking Age. Science 2020; 369:369/6502/eaaw8977. [PMID: 32703849 DOI: 10.1126/science.aaw8977] [Citation(s) in RCA: 75] [Impact Index Per Article: 18.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/13/2019] [Revised: 02/13/2020] [Accepted: 05/29/2020] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
Smallpox, one of the most devastating human diseases, killed between 300 million and 500 million people in the 20th century alone. We recovered viral sequences from 13 northern European individuals, including 11 dated to ~600-1050 CE, overlapping the Viking Age, and reconstructed near-complete variola virus genomes for four of them. The samples predate the earliest confirmed smallpox cases by ~1000 years, and the sequences reveal a now-extinct sister clade of the modern variola viruses that were in circulation before the eradication of smallpox. We date the most recent common ancestor of variola virus to ~1700 years ago. Distinct patterns of gene inactivation in the four near-complete sequences show that different evolutionary paths of genotypic host adaptation resulted in variola viruses that circulated widely among humans.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Barbara Mühlemann
- Centre for Pathogen Evolution, Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3EJ, UK.,Institute of Virology, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, 10117 Berlin, Germany.,German Center for Infection Research (DZIF), Associated Partner Site, Berlin, Germany
| | - Lasse Vinner
- Lundbeck Foundation GeoGenetics Center, GLOBE Institute, University of Copenhagen, 1350 Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Ashot Margaryan
- Lundbeck Foundation GeoGenetics Center, GLOBE Institute, University of Copenhagen, 1350 Copenhagen, Denmark.,Institute of Molecular Biology, National Academy of Sciences of Armenia, 0014 Yerevan, Armenia
| | - Helene Wilhelmson
- Department of Archaeology and Ancient History, Lund University, 221 00 Lund, Sweden.,Sydsvensk Arkeologi AB, 291 22 Kristianstad, Sweden
| | | | - Morten E Allentoft
- Lundbeck Foundation GeoGenetics Center, GLOBE Institute, University of Copenhagen, 1350 Copenhagen, Denmark.,Trace and Environmental DNA (TrEnD) Laboratory, School of Molecular and Life Sciences, Curtin University, 6102 Perth, WA, Australia
| | - Peter de Barros Damgaard
- Lundbeck Foundation GeoGenetics Center, GLOBE Institute, University of Copenhagen, 1350 Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Anders Johannes Hansen
- Lundbeck Foundation GeoGenetics Center, GLOBE Institute, University of Copenhagen, 1350 Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Sofie Holtsmark Nielsen
- Lundbeck Foundation GeoGenetics Center, GLOBE Institute, University of Copenhagen, 1350 Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Lisa Mariann Strand
- Department of Archaeology and Cultural History, Norwegian University of Science and Technology University Museum, 7491 Trondheim, Norway
| | - Jan Bill
- Museum of Cultural History, University of Oslo, 0130 Oslo, Norway
| | - Alexandra Buzhilova
- Research Institute and Museum of Anthropology, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow 125009, Russian Federation
| | - Tamara Pushkina
- Department of Archaeology, Faculty of History, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow 119992, Russian Federation
| | - Ceri Falys
- Thames Valley Archaeological Services, Reading RG1 5NR, UK
| | - Valeri Khartanovich
- Peter the Great Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography (Kunstkamera) RAS, 199034 St. Petersburg, Russian Federation
| | - Vyacheslav Moiseyev
- Peter the Great Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography (Kunstkamera) RAS, 199034 St. Petersburg, Russian Federation
| | - Marie Louise Schjellerup Jørkov
- Laboratory of Biological Anthropology, Department of Forensic Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Copenhagen, 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark
| | | | | | - Ingrid Gustin
- Department of Archaeology and Ancient History, Lund University, 221 00 Lund, Sweden
| | - Hannes Schroeder
- Section for Evolutionary Genomics, GLOBE Institute, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, 1353 Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Gerd Sutter
- Institute for Infectious Diseases and Zoonoses, LMU University of Munich, 80539 Munich, Germany.,German Center for Infection Research (DZIF), Partner Site, Munich, Germany
| | - Geoffrey L Smith
- Department of Pathology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 1QP, UK
| | - Christian Drosten
- Institute of Virology, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, 10117 Berlin, Germany.,German Center for Infection Research (DZIF), Associated Partner Site, Berlin, Germany
| | - Ron A M Fouchier
- Department of Viroscience, Erasmus Medical Centre, 3015 CN Rotterdam, Netherlands
| | - Derek J Smith
- Centre for Pathogen Evolution, Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3EJ, UK
| | - Eske Willerslev
- Lundbeck Foundation GeoGenetics Center, GLOBE Institute, University of Copenhagen, 1350 Copenhagen, Denmark. .,Lundbeck Foundation GeoGenetics Center, Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3EJ, UK.,Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Hinxton CB10 1SA, UK.,Danish Institute for Advanced Study, University of Southern Denmark, 5230 Odense M, Denmark
| | - Terry C Jones
- Centre for Pathogen Evolution, Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3EJ, UK. .,Institute of Virology, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, 10117 Berlin, Germany.,German Center for Infection Research (DZIF), Associated Partner Site, Berlin, Germany
| | - Martin Sikora
- Lundbeck Foundation GeoGenetics Center, GLOBE Institute, University of Copenhagen, 1350 Copenhagen, Denmark.
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Petersone-Gordina E, Roberts C, Millard AR, Montgomery J, Gerhards G. Dental disease and dietary isotopes of individuals from St Gertrude Church cemetery, Riga, Latvia. PLoS One 2018; 13:e0191757. [PMID: 29364968 PMCID: PMC5783410 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0191757] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/14/2017] [Accepted: 12/26/2017] [Indexed: 01/23/2023] Open
Abstract
This research explores oral health indicators and stable carbon and nitrogen isotope data to explore diet, and differences in diet, between people buried in the four different contexts of the St Gertrude Church cemetery (15th– 17th centuries AD): the general cemetery, two mass graves, and a collective mass burial pit within the general cemetery. The main aim is to assess whether people buried in the mass graves were rural immigrants, or if they were more likely to be the victims of plague (or another epidemic) who lived in Riga and its suburbs. The data produced (from dental disease assessments and isotope analyses) were compared within, as well as between, the contexts. Most differences emerged when comparing the prevalence rates of dental diseases and other oral health indicators in males and females between the contexts, while isotope analysis revealed more individual, rather than context-specific, differences. The data suggested that the populations buried in the mass graves were different from those buried in the general cemetery, and support the theory that rural immigrants were buried in both mass graves. Significant differences were observed in some aspects of the data between the mass graves, however, possibly indicating that the people buried in them do not represent the same community.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | - Charlotte Roberts
- Department of Archaeology, Durham University, Durham, United Kingdom
| | - Andrew R. Millard
- Department of Archaeology, Durham University, Durham, United Kingdom
| | - Janet Montgomery
- Department of Archaeology, Durham University, Durham, United Kingdom
| | - Guntis Gerhards
- Institute of Latvian History, University of Latvia, Riga, Latvia
| |
Collapse
|