Abstract
Pre-contact and historic era Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex genomes from the Americas
Abstract
Tuberculosis (TB) is one of the oldest human diseases and is caused by bacteria belonging to the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC). While TB is thought to have originated in Africa and spread across the Old World due to human population movements, how it was introduced to the New World has been a matter of debate. Skeletal evidence suggests that TB was present in the Americas prior to the arrival of Europeans; however, the pre-contact era MTBC strains were completely replaced by more virulent European-origin MTBC strains during the Age of Exploration. Previous research from our group found that pre-contact era human populations from the Osmore River Valley in coastal Peru were infected with MTBC strains similar to those currently found in pinnipeds such as seals and sea lions. Thus, consumption and/or handling of infected pinnipeds served as an avenue for transmission of TB in the past. In the current study, we screened 70 individuals from various archaeological contexts in the Americas. We recovered MTBC genomes from three pre-contact era individuals residing in non-coastal locations in Peru and Colombia as well as from a mid-19th century individual from New York, USA. The presence of strains belonging to the pinniped-derived MTBC lineage in non-coastal populations suggests that these strains were not limited to coastal populations but also spread to human populations residing in other parts of the Americas. We also show that European-origin H37Rv-like strains were present in the USA by the mid-19th century.
Full Citation
Honap, T.P., A.J. Vagene, A. Herbig, M.S. Rosenberg, J.E. Buikstra, K.I. Bos, J. Krause, and A.C. Stone (2018) Pre-contact and historic era Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex genomes from the Americas. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 165(S66):125.
DOI
10.1002/ajpa.23489Direct Download
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