Suchergebnisse

The Asian Central Steppe, consisting of current-day Kazakhstan and Russia, has acted as a highway for major migrations throughout history. Therefore, describing the genetic composition of past populations in Central Asia holds value to understanding human mobility in this pivotal region. In this study, we analyse paleogenomic data generated from five humans from Kuygenzhar, Kazakhstan. These individuals date to the early to mid-18th century, shortly after the Kazakh Khanate was founded, a union of nomadic tribes of Mongol Golden Horde and Turkic origins. Genomic analysis identifies that these individuals are admixed with varying proportions of East Asian ancestry, indicating a recent admixture event from East Asia. The high amounts of DNA from the anaerobic Gram-negative bacteria Tannerella forsythia, a periodontal pathogen, recovered from their teeth suggest they may have suffered from periodontitis disease. Genomic analysis of this bacterium identified recently evolved virulence and glycosylation genes including the presence of antibiotic resistance genes predating the antibiotic era. This study provides an integrated analysis of individuals with a diet mostly based on meat (mainly horse and lamb), milk, and dairy products and their oral microbiome. ; C.L.-F. is supported by a PGC2018-0955931-B-100 grant (MCIU/AEI/FEDER, UE) of Spain; T.M.-B. is supported by funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement No. 864203), BFU2017-86471-P (MINECO/FEDER, UE), "Unidad de Excelencia María de Maeztu", funded by the AEI (CEX2018-000792-M), Howard Hughes International Early Career, Secretaria d'Universitats i Recerca and CERCA Programme del Departament d'Economia i Coneixement de la Generalitat de Catalunya (GRC 2017 SGR 880). L.v.D. is supportd by a UCL Excellence Fellowship. The Ministry of the Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan permitted and granted the research and the study (Grant number AP09261134). Additional financial contribution was provided by the ISMEO of Rome.

The Asian Central Steppe, consisting of current-day Kazakhstan and Russia, has acted as a highway for major migrations throughout history. Therefore, describing the genetic composition of past populations in Central Asia holds value to understanding human mobility in this pivotal region. In this study, we analyse paleogenomic data generated from five humans from Kuygenzhar, Kazakhstan. These individuals date to the early to mid-18th century, shortly after the Kazakh Khanate was founded, a union of nomadic tribes of Mongol Golden Horde and Turkic origins. Genomic analysis identifies that these individuals are admixed with varying proportions of East Asian ancestry, indicating a recent admixture event from East Asia. The high amounts of DNA from the anaerobic Gram-negative bacteria Tannerella forsythia, a periodontal pathogen, recovered from their teeth suggest they may have suffered from periodontitis disease. Genomic analysis of this bacterium identified recently evolved virulence and glycosylation genes including the presence of antibiotic resistance genes predating the antibiotic era. This study provides an integrated analysis of individuals with a diet mostly based on meat (mainly horse and lamb), milk, and dairy products and their oral microbiome. ; C.L.-F. is supported by a PGC2018-0955931-B-100 grant (MCIU/AEI/FEDER, UE) of Spain; T.M.-B. is supported by funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement No. 864203), BFU2017-86471-P (MINECO/FEDER, UE), "Unidad de Excelencia María de Maeztu", funded by the AEI (CEX2018-000792-M), Howard Hughes International Early Career, Secretaria d'Universitats i Recerca and CERCA Programme del Departament d'Economia i Coneixement de la Generalitat de Catalunya (GRC 2017 SGR 880). L.v.D. is supportd by a UCL Excellence Fellowship. The Ministry of the Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan permitted and granted the research and the study (Grant number AP09261134). Additional financial contribution was provided by the ISMEO of Rome.

Analysis of pathogen genome data sequenced from clinical and historical samples has made it possible to perform phylogenetic analyses of sexually transmitted infections on a global scale, and to estimate the diversity, distribution, and coevolutionary host relationships of these pathogens, providing insights into pathogen emergence and disease prevention. Deep-sequenced pathogen genomes from clinical studies and ancient samples yield estimates of within-host and between-host evolutionary rates and provide data on changes in pathogen genomic stability and evolutionary responses. Here we examine three groups of pathogens transmitted mainly through sexual contact between modern humans to provide insight into ancient human behavior and history with their pathogens. Exploring ancient pathogen genomic divergence and the ancient viral-host parallel evolutionary histories will help us to reconstruct the origin of present-day geographical distribution and diversity of clinical pathogen infections, and will hopefully allow us to foresee possible environmentally induced pathogen evolutionary responses. Lastly, we emphasize that ancient pathogen DNA research should be combined with modern clinical pathogen data, and be equitable and provide advantages for all researchers worldwide, e.g., through shared data. ; V.N.P. was funded by the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases grant and the Ministry of Health, Government of Catalonia (grant SLT002/16/00496). C.J.H. was funded by the NIHR Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre Anti-Microbial Resistance theme. R.F.R. was funded by a National Geographic Society/Waitt Foundation Scientific Exploration Grant (Nr. W420–15) and the University of Pretoria. S.J.U was funded by Oxford Brookes University. ; http://www.mdpi.com/journal/genes ; am2018 ; Biochemistry ; Genetics ; Microbiology and Plant Pathology

BACKGROUND: Candida glabrata follows C. albicans as the second or third most prevalent cause of candidemia worldwide. These two pathogenic yeasts are distantly related, C. glabrata being part of the Nakaseomyces, a group more closely related to Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Although C. glabrata was thought to be the only pathogenic Nakaseomyces, two new pathogens have recently been described within this group: C. nivariensis and C. bracarensis. To gain insight into the genomic changes underlying the emergence of virulence, we sequenced the genomes of these two, and three other non-pathogenic Nakaseomyces, and compared them to other sequenced yeasts. RESULTS: Our results indicate that the two new pathogens are more closely related to the non-pathogenic N. delphensis than to C. glabrata. We uncover duplications and accelerated evolution that specifically affected genes in the lineage preceding the group containing N. delphensis and the three pathogens, which may provide clues to the higher propensity of this group to infect humans. Finally, the number of Epa-like adhesins is specifically enriched in the pathogens, particularly in C. glabrata. CONCLUSIONS: Remarkably, some features thought to be the result of adaptation of C. glabrata to a pathogenic lifestyle, are present throughout the Nakaseomyces, indicating these are rather ancient adaptations to other environments. Phylogeny suggests that human pathogenesis evolved several times, independently within the clade. The expansion of the EPA gene family in pathogens establishes an evolutionary link between adhesion and virulence phenotypes. Our analyses thus shed light onto the relationships between virulence and the recent genomic changes that occurred within the Nakaseomyces. ; This work was supported by funding from the European Research Council/nunder the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme (FP/2007- 2013)/ERC Grant Agreement n.310325, a Grant from the Qatar National Research Fund grant (NPRP 5-298-3-086), and by a grant from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (BIO2012-37161). CF's research is/nfunded in part by an "Attractivité" grant from the University Paris Sud. GA is/na recipient of a Marie Curie grant (FP7-PEOPLE-2010-IEF-No.274223). SB, HD and RA are recipients of, respectively, a shared post-doctoral grant and a Ph. D. grant, from the Région Ile-de-France's DIM Malinf program. JAC was supported by the Ph.D. Program in Computational Biology of the Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência, Portugal (sponsored by Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, Siemens SA, and Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia; SFRH/BD/33528/2008)

Enterococci are Gram-positive bacteria that are found in plants, soil and as commensals of the gastrointestinal tract of humans, mammals, and insects. Despite their commensal nature, they have also become globally important nosocomial pathogens. Within the genus Enterococcus, Enterococcus faecium, and Enterococcus faecalis are clinically most relevant. In this review, we will discuss how E. faecium and E. faecalis have evolved to become a globally disseminated nosocomial pathogen. E. faecium has a defined sub-population that is associated with hospitalized patients and is rarely encountered in community settings. These hospital-associated clones are characterized by the acquisition of adaptive genetic elements, including genes involved in metabolism, biofilm formation, and antibiotic resistance. In contrast to E. faecium, clones of E. faecalis isolated from hospitalized patients, including strains causing clinical infections, are not exclusively found in hospitals but are also present in healthy individuals and animals. This observation suggests that the division between commensals and hospital-adapted lineages is less clear for E. faecalis than for E. faecium. In addition, genes that are reported to be associated with virulence of E. faecalis are often not unique to clinical isolates, but are also found in strains that originate from commensal niches. As a reflection of more ancient association of E. faecalis with different hosts, these determinants Thus, they may not represent genuine virulence genes but may act as host-adaptive functions that are useful in a variety of intestinal environments. The scope of the review is to summarize recent trends in the emergence of antibiotic resistance and explore recent developments in the molecular epidemiology, population structure and mechanisms of adaptation of E. faecium and E. faecalis. ; WS is funded through a NWO-Vidi grant (917.13.357). TC and FB are supported by grants PI12-01581 and PI15-01307 from the ISCIII-Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness of Spain (to TC), S2010/BMD2414 from the Regional Government of Madrid (to FB) and the CIBERESP Network for Biomedical Research in Epidemiology and Public Health (Instituto Carlos III, Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation, reference number CB06/02/0053). ; Peer reviewed ; Peer Reviewed

"The Silk Roads are the symbol of the interconnectedness of ancient Eurasian civilizations. Using challenging land and maritime routes, merchants and adventurers, diplomats and missionaries, sailors and soldiers, and camels, horses and ships, carried their commodities, ideas, languages and pathogens enormous distances across Eurasia. The result was an underlying unity that traveled the length of the routes, and which is preserved to this day, expressed in common technologies, artistic styles, cultures and religions, even disease and immunity patterns"--

11 pages, 5 figures, 1 table ; Little is known about the antiviral response in mollusks. As in other invertebrates, the interferon signaling pathways have not been identified, and in fact, there is a debate about whether invertebrates possess antiviral immunity similar to that of vertebrates. In marine bivalves, due to their filtering activity, interaction with putative pathogens, including viruses, is very high, suggesting that they should have mechanisms to address these infections. In this study, we confirmed that constitutively expressed molecules in naive mussels confer resistance in oysters to ostreid herpesvirus 1 (OsHV-1) when oyster hemocytes are incubated with mussel hemolymph. Using a proteomic approach, myticin C peptides were identified in both mussel hemolymph and hemocytes. Myticins, antimicrobial peptides that have been previously characterized, were constitutively expressed in a fraction of mussel hemocytes and showed antiviral activity against OsHV-1, suggesting that these molecules could be responsible for the antiviral activity of mussel hemolymph. For the first time, a molecule from a bivalve has shown antiviral activity against a virus affecting mollusks. Moreover, myticin C peptides showed antiviral activity against human herpes simplex viruses 1 (HSV-1) and 2 (HSV-2). In summary, our work sheds light on the invertebrate antiviral immune response with the identification of a molecule with potential biotechnological applications ; This work was partially funded by project AGL2015-65705-R from the Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad, CSIC Intramural 201640E024, and EU Project BIVALIFE (266157). Financial support given to Rebeca Moreira and Patricia Pereiro by the Spanish Government (BES-2009-029765 and AP2010-2408, respectively) is acknowledged. Francisco Parra's laboratory was supported by grant GRUPIN14-099 from Principado de Asturias (Spain). Ángel L. Álvarez is a postdoctoral fellow in F. Parra's laboratory, partially funded by Ayuntamiento de Ribera de Arriba/La Ribera (Asturias, Spain) ; Peer reviewed

In the COVID19 pandemic, there is strong need of immune boosting and mental health approaches which are easily available and traditionally used for preventing as well as managing COVID19 infection. Since past 40 years, Dev Sanskriti University (DSVV) and parent institution (All World Gayatri Pariwar) has been working on various aspects of traditional herbal utility and Yagya Therapy. Vedic texts mentioned use of herbal fumes for health benefits as well as purifying air and removing seasonal pathogens from air through Bheshaj Yajnas (Yagya / Hawan). Bheshaj Yajna (herbal fumigation) was widely used in India to combat seasonal epidemics; scriptures described them in details. Studies have shown Yagya Therapy and herbal fumigation effects in various diseases i,e, common diseases such as diabetes, thyroid, as well as life threatening diseases such as cancer, multi-drug-resistant tuberculosis and in psychological ailments such as Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder and PolyCystic Ovarian Disease, epilepsy, depression, etc., indicating potential of herbal fumes for boosting immunity and aiding psychological wellbeing; besides, the herbal fumes is made using herbs known for their immune boosting and mental health care potential in Ayurveda and traditional knowledge. Hence, the study narrated the selective herbs which are pan-available and widely used traditionally in Yagya Therapy or generating herbal fumes, which can help boosting immunity and aid psychological wellbeing.

Abstract
The aim of this study was to evaluate the presence of infectious disease in the Dome Church (Riga Cathedral) Cemetery population, dating from the late medieval period (15th-17th centuries AD). A total of 274 individuals were macroscopically observed for evidence of infectious disease, and seven individuals with lesions possibly associated with a bacterial infection affecting the skeleton were selected for further analysis. Pathological changes on the outer table of the skull and in the long bones of legs characteristic of venereal syphilis were observed in four female and one male individual. Likewise, changes possibly related to late congenital syphilis were observed in a 14-15-year-old non-adult individual. All these individuals were buried in a small area adjacent to the northern wall of the Dome Church, which possibly belonged to a hospital or a shelter. The evidence for venereal syphilis from the cemetery complements historical data about the spread of the disease in Riga during the 16th-17th centuries AD. One adult male individual had destructive changes in the lower spine, which could be associated with tuberculosis (TB). So far, this is the first individual with possible TB from the archaeological populations of Riga. This research provides unique evidence about infectious disease in skeletal populations from the late medieval period in Latvia, and the results will be used as the basis for future research in the subject, including extraction of ancient pathogen DNA.

Ancient pathogen genomics is an emerging field allowing reconstruction of past epidemics. The demise of post-contact American populations may, at least in part, have been caused by paratyphoid fever brought by Europeans. We retrieved genome-wide data from two Spanish soldiers who were besieging the city of Barcelona in 1652, during the Reapers' War. Their ancestry derived from the Basque region and Sardinia, respectively, (at that time, this island belonged to the Spanish kingdom). Despite the proposed plague epidemic, we could not find solid evidence for the presence of the causative plague agent in these individuals. However, we retrieved from one individual a substantial fraction of the Salmonella enterica serovar Paratyphi C lineage linked to paratyphoid fever in colonial period Mexico. Our results support a growing body of evidence that Paratyphi C enteric fever was more prevalent in Europe and the Americas in the past than it is today. ; C.L.-F. is supported by a PGC2018-0955931-B-100 grant (MCIU/AEI/FEDER, UE) of Spain; T.M.-B. is supported by funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement No. 864203), BFU2017-86471-P (MINECO/FEDER, UE), ''Unidad de Excelencia María de Maeztu'', funded by the AEI (CEX2018-000792-M), Secretaria d'Universitats i Recerca, and CERCA Programme del Department d'Economia i Coneixement de la Generalitat de Catalunya (GRC 2017 SGR 880)

ABSTRACT: The health of humans is intricately linked to the substances we ingest—both food and nondietary items. Adverse health outcomes related to smoking of such products as tobacco and other psychoactive substances are clearly established in modern populations but are less well understood for ancient communities. Grasping these dynamics is further complicated by the curative, religious, and medicinal context of many of these substances, which have often been commodified, refined, and altered in recent history. As part of a larger collaboration with the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe dedicated to understanding medicinal plant use among Native Californians, this article summarizes new metabolomic data from three Middle- and Late-Period ancestral heritage Ohlone sites: Thámien Rúmmeytak (CA-SCL-128), 'Ayttakiš 'Éete Hiramwiš Trépam-tak (CA-ALA-677/H), and Síi Túupentak (CA-ALA-565/H). The authors used an ultra-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry platform to analyze chemical residues from 95 human dental calculus samples from 50 burials. Using multivariate statistics, they coanalyzed demographic and skeletal pathology data with chemical residue profiles and considered skeletal markers for a series of oral and postcranial health conditions. Results indicate sex and age biases in consumption patterns. Periodontitis stands out as the most significant local factor for changes in the oral metabolome. However, while chemical markers of oral diseases may be related to pathogen activity, associations between residues and postcranial conditions such as osteoarthritis suggest traditional curative practices and the ingestion of medicinal substances. Hence, this study yields new insights into the broader context of illness and healing in the past.

Ancient pathogen genomics is an emerging field allowing reconstruction of past epidemics. The demise of post-contact American populations may, at least in part, have been caused by paratyphoid fever brought by Europeans. We retrieved genome-wide data from two Spanish soldiers who were besieging the city of Barcelona in 1652, during the Reapers' War. Their ancestry derived from the Basque region and Sardinia, respectively, (at that time, this island belonged to the Spanish kingdom). Despite the proposed plague epidemic, we could not find solid evidence for the presence of the causative plague agent in these individuals. However, we retrieved from one individual a substantial fraction of the Salmonella enterica serovar Paratyphi C lineage linked to paratyphoid fever in colonial period Mexico. Our results support a growing body of evidence that Paratyphi C enteric fever was more prevalent in Europe and the Americas in the past than it is today. ; We are grateful to the Museum of the History of Barcelona (MUHBA) for allowing access to these samples. C.L.-F. is supported by a PGC2018-0955931-B-100 grant (MCIU/AEI/FEDER, UE) of Spain; T.M.-B. is supported by funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement No. 864203), BFU2017-86471-P (MINECO/FEDER, UE), "Unidad de Excelencia María de Maeztu", funded by the AEI (CEX2018-000792-M), Howard Hughes International Early Career, Secretaria d'Universitats i Recerca, and CERCA Programme del Department d'Economia i Coneixement de la Generalitat de Catalunya (GRC 2017 SGR 880). L.v.D. is supported by a UCL Excellence Fellowship.

Around 700 BCE, a new military formation called the phalanx was established in ancient Greece: a tight column of heavy infantry carrying long spears, or pikes, used in a single prong of attack. Later, in the battle of Marathon described by Herodotus, the Greeks learned the advantages of multipronged attacks, a strategy still used in modern warfare. Is the immune system similar in its approach to combating pathogens or tumors?

The yeast Candida glabrata is an opportunistic human fungal pathogen whose incidence has increased in the last two decades. Despite its name, this yeast is only distantly related to the model fungal pathogen C. albicans, and more closely related to Saccharomyces cerevisiae and other yeasts that underwent an ancient whole-genome duplication. Understanding what specific traits make C. glabrata a successful opportunistic pathogen within a clade of mostly innocuous yeasts, and how these compare to virulence traits in distant pathogens such as C. albicans is a focus of intense research. From an evolutionary perspective, uncovering how the ability to infect humans has emerged multiple, independent times in different lineages may reveal new disease mechanisms and provide us with the capacity to predict which genomic features in a clade may confer a higher potential to develop virulence against humans. ; TG group acknowledges support of the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness grants, 'Centro de Excelencia Severo Ochoa 2013–2017' SEV-2012-0208, and BIO2012-37161 cofounded by European Regional Development Fund (ERDF); from the European Union and ERC Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under grant agreements FP7-PEOPLE-2013-ITN-606786 and ERC-2012-StG-310325, and grant from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement No H2020-MSCA-ITN-2014-642095.

Yes ; This report addresses the scientific and technological discoveries in the biological sciences that enabled the early interest in biological warfare to move from hurling infected corpses into enemy cities in ancient times, through use of small cultures of animal pathogens to sabotage enemy livestock in World War I, to the origins of organised military biological weapons (BW) programmes directed at humans, animals, and plants in the inter-war period. It builds on Dando¿s 1999 paper: The Impact of the Development of Modern Biology and Medicine on the Evolution of Offensive Biological Warfare Programs in the Twentieth Century.1 For the historical aspects of biological warfare programmes this report primarily draws from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute volume: Biological and Toxin Weapons: Research, Development and Use from the Middle Ages to 1945.2