德国马克斯·普朗克进化人类学研究所Johannes Krause，Alexander Herbig和Megan Michel共同合作，近期取得重要工作进展。他们通过研究古代疟原虫基因组，揭示了人类疟疾的历史。相关研究成果2024年6月12日在线发表于《自然》杂志上。

据介绍，疟原虫属引起疟疾的原生动物对人类基因组施加了最强的选择压力之一，抗药性等位基因提供了生物分子足迹，概述了这些物种的历史范围。尽管如此，关于疟原虫何时以及如何作为人类病原体出现并在全球传播的争论仍在继续。

为了解决这些问题，研究人员从16个国家的恶性疟原虫、间日疟原虫和疟疾疟原虫中生成了高覆盖率的古代线粒体和核全基因组数据，这些数据跨越了大约5500年的人类历史。早在公元前四千年和公元前一千年，研究人员就分别在欧亚大陆地理位置不同的地区发现了间日疟原虫和恶性疟原虫；对于间日疟原虫来说，这一证据早于文本记载几千年。基因组分析支持恶性疟原虫和间日疟原虫在美洲有不同的病史：现已消除的欧洲菌株和近接触的南美菌株之间的相似性表明，欧洲殖民者是美国间日疟原虫的来源，而跨大西洋奴隶贸易可能将恶性疟原虫引入美洲。

总之，这一数据强调了跨文化接触在疟疾传播中的作用，为未来疟原虫对人类历史影响的古流行病学研究奠定了生物分子基础。最后，研究人员在高海拔喜马拉雅山脉意外发现了恶性疟原虫，这提供了一个罕见的案例研究，可以从感染状态推断出个体的流动性，增加了人们对近三千年前该地区跨文化联系的了解。

附：英文原文

Title: Ancient Plasmodium genomes shed light on the history of human malaria

Author: Michel, Megan, Skourtanioti, Eirini, Pierini, Federica, Guevara, Evelyn K., Mtsch, Angela, Kocher, Arthur, Barquera, Rodrigo, Bianco, Raffaela A., Carlhoff, Selina, Coppola Bove, Lorenza, Freilich, Suzanne, Giffin, Karen, Hermes, Taylor, Hi, Alina, Knolle, Florian, Nelson, Elizabeth A., Neumann, Gunnar U., Papac, Luka, Penske, Sandra, Rohrlach, Adam B., Salem, Nada, Semerau, Lena, Villalba-Mouco, Vanessa, Abadie, Isabelle, Aldenderfer, Mark, Beckett, Jessica F., Brown, Matthew, Campus, Franco G. R., Chenghwa, Tsang, Cruz Berrocal, Mara, Damaek, Ladislav, Duffett Carlson, Kellie Sara, Durand, Raphal, Erne, Michal, Fntneanu, Cristinel, Frenzel, Hannah, Garca Atinzar, Gabriel, Guilln, Sonia, Hsieh, Ellen, Karwowski, Maciej, Kelvin, David, Kelvin, Nikki, Khokhlov, Alexander, Kinaston, Rebecca L., Korolev, Arkadii, Krettek, Kim-Louise, Kner, Mario, Lai, Luca, Look, Cory, Majander, Kerttu, Mandl, Kirsten, Mazzarello, Vittorio, McCormick, Michael, de Miguel Ibez, Patxuka, Murphy, Reg, Nmeth, Rita E., Nordqvist, Kerkko, Novotny, Friederike, Obenaus, Martin, Olmo-Enciso, Lauro, Onkamo, Pivi, Orschiedt, Jrg, Patrushev, Valerii

Issue&Volume: 2024-06-12

Abstract: Malaria-causing protozoa of the genus Plasmodium have exerted one of the strongest selective pressures on the human genome, and resistance alleles provide biomolecular footprints that outline the historical reach of these species1. Nevertheless, debate persists over when and how malaria parasites emerged as human pathogens and spread around the globe1,2. To address these questions, we generated high-coverage ancient mitochondrial and nuclear genome-wide data from P. falciparum, P. vivax and P. malariae from 16 countries spanning around 5,500 years of human history. We identified P. vivax and P. falciparum across geographically disparate regions of Eurasia from as early as the fourth and first millennia BCE, respectively; for P. vivax, this evidence pre-dates textual references by several millennia3. Genomic analysis supports distinct disease histories for P. falciparum and P. vivax in the Americas: similarities between now-eliminated European and peri-contact South American strains indicate that European colonizers were the source of American P. vivax, whereas the trans-Atlantic slave trade probably introduced P. falciparum into the Americas. Our data underscore the role of cross-cultural contacts in the dissemination of malaria, laying the biomolecular foundation for future palaeo-epidemiological research into the impact of Plasmodium parasites on human history. Finally, our unexpected discovery of P. falciparum in the high-altitude Himalayas provides a rare case study in which individual mobility can be inferred from infection status, adding to our knowledge of cross-cultural connectivity in the region nearly three millennia ago.

DOI: 10.1038/s41586-024-07546-2

Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07546-2