Diverse variola virus (smallpox) strains were widespread in northern Europe in the Viking Age.
Journal
Science (New York, N.Y.)
ISSN: 1095-9203
Titre abrégé: Science
Pays: United States
ID NLM: 0404511
Informations de publication
Date de publication:
24 07 2020
24 07 2020
Historique:
received:
13
02
2019
revised:
13
02
2020
accepted:
29
05
2020
entrez:
25
7
2020
pubmed:
25
7
2020
medline:
7
8
2020
Statut:
ppublish
Résumé
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.
Identifiants
pubmed: 32703849
pii: 369/6502/eaaw8977
doi: 10.1126/science.aaw8977
pii:
doi:
Banques de données
figshare
['10.6084/m9.figshare.12185466']
Types de publication
Historical Article
Journal Article
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Langues
eng
Sous-ensembles de citation
IM
Subventions
Organisme : Wellcome Trust
Pays : United Kingdom
Commentaires et corrections
Type : CommentIn
Informations de copyright
Copyright © 2020 The Authors, some rights reserved; exclusive licensee American Association for the Advancement of Science. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.