丹麦哥本哈根大学Martin Sikora和瑞典乌普萨拉大学Helena Malmström研究组取得一项新突破。他们的研究开发现了新石器时代六代农民反复感染鼠疫。这一研究成果于2024年7月10日发表在国际顶尖学术期刊《自然》上。

研究小组利用古代基因组学对108位斯堪的纳维亚新石器时代个体进行祖先、社会结构和病原体感染的推断，这些个体来自八个巨石墓和一个石墓。研究小组发现新石器时代的瘟疫很普遍，在至少17%的样本人群中检测到，并且跨越了很大的地理距离。研究组证明，在大约120年的时间里，这种疾病在新石器时代的社区中以三种不同的感染事件传播。基于变异图的泛基因组学表明，新石器时代鼠疫基因组保留了假结核耶尔森菌中存在的祖先基因组变异，包括与疾病结局相关的毒力因素。

此外，该团队重建了它们的多代谱系，其中最大的有38个个体跨越六代，表现为父系社会组织。最后，课题组人员记录了新石器时代女性异族通婚的直接基因组证据，该女性被埋葬在与其兄弟不同的巨石坟墓中。综上所述，他们的发现提供了鼠疫在一个大父系亲属群体中的传播的详细重建，并确定了新石器时代开始衰落时人群中的多种鼠疫感染。

据了解，在距今5300至4900年（校正年份，下同）之间，欧洲大部分地区的人口经历了一段时间的下降。然而，这个所谓的新石器时代衰落的原因仍然存在争议。一些人认为是农业危机导致了人口的减少，另一些人则认为是早期鼠疫的传播。

附：英文原文

Title: Repeated plague infections across six generations of Neolithic Farmers

Author: Seersholm, Frederik Valeur, Sjgren, Karl-Gran, Koelman, Julia, Blank, Malou, Svensson, Emma M., Staring, Jacqueline, Fraser, Magdalena, Pinotti, Thomaz, McColl, Hugh, Gaunitz, Charleen, Ruiz-Bedoya, Tatiana, Granehll, Lena, Villegas-Ramirez, Berenice, Fischer, Anders, Price, T. Douglas, Allentoft, Morten E., Iversen, Astrid K. N., Axelsson, Tony, Ahlstrm, Torbjrn, Gtherstrm, Anders, Stor, Jan, Kristiansen, Kristian, Willerslev, Eske, Jakobsson, Mattias, Malmstrm, Helena, Sikora, Martin

Issue&Volume: 2024-07-10

Abstract: In the period between 5,300 and 4,900calibrated years before present (cal. BP), populations across large parts of Europe underwent a period of demographic decline1,2. However, the cause of this so-called Neolithic decline is still debated. Some argue for an agricultural crisis resulting in the decline3, others for the spread of an early form of plague4. Here we use population-scale ancient genomics to infer ancestry, social structure and pathogen infection in 108Scandinavian Neolithic individuals from eight megalithic graves and a stone cist. We find that the Neolithic plague was widespread, detected in at least 17% of the sampled population and across large geographical distances. We demonstrate that the disease spread within the Neolithic community in three distinct infection events within a period of around 120years. Variant graph-based pan-genomics shows that the Neolithic plague genomes retained ancestral genomic variation present in Yersinia pseudotuberculosis, including virulence factors associated with disease outcomes. In addition, we reconstruct four multigeneration pedigrees, the largest of which consists of 38individuals spanning six generations, showing a patrilineal social organization. Lastly, we document direct genomic evidence for Neolithic female exogamy in a woman buried in a different megalithic tomb than her brothers. Taken together, our findings provide a detailed reconstruction of plague spread within a large patrilineal kinship group and identify multiple plague infections in a population dated to the beginning of the Neolithic decline.

DOI: 10.1038/s41586-024-07651-2

Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07651-2