Historic Treponema pallidum genomes from Colonial Mexico retrieved from archaeological remains

• Published in: PLoS neglected tropical diseases Vol. 12; no. 6; p. e0006447
• Main Authors: Schuenemann, Verena J., Kumar Lankapalli, Aditya, Barquera, Rodrigo, Nelson, Elizabeth A., Iraíz Hernández, Diana, Acuña Alonzo, Víctor, Bos, Kirsten I., Márquez Morfín, Lourdes, Herbig, Alexander, Krause, Johannes
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 01.06.2018; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: 15th century; Analysis; Archaeology; Bacterial infections; Bioinformatics; Biology; Biology and Life Sciences; Bone and Bones - microbiology; Colonial agents; Computer and Information Sciences; Congenital infection; Convents; Deoxyribonucleic acid; Diagnostic systems; Disease transmission; DNA; DNA methylation; DNA, Bacterial - isolation & purification; Dosage and administration; Drug therapy; Earth Sciences; Evolution; Genetic aspects; Genetics; Genome, Bacterial; Genomes; Globus pallidus; History, 17th Century; History, 18th Century; History, 19th Century; Humans; Infants; Infectious diseases; Laboratories; Medicine and Health Sciences; Mexico; Monkeys & apes; Pandemics; People and places; Risk factors; Sexually transmitted diseases; STD; Supervision; Syphilis; Syphilis - diagnosis; Syphilis - history; Syphilis - microbiology; Treponema pallidum; Treponema pallidum - genetics; Treponema pallidum - isolation & purification; Tropical diseases; Virulence Factors - genetics; Yaws; Yaws - diagnosis; Yaws - history; Yaws - microbiology; Mexico; Europe; Germany
• ISSN: 1935-2735; 1935-2727; 1935-2735
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0006447

Treponema pallidum infections occur worldwide causing, among other diseases, syphilis and yaws. In particular sexually transmitted syphilis is regarded as a re-emerging infectious disease with millions of new infections annually. Here we present three historic T. pallidum genomes (two from T. pallidum ssp. pallidum and one from T. pallidum ssp. pertenue) that have been reconstructed from skeletons recovered from the Convent of Santa Isabel in Mexico City, operational between the 17th and 19th century. Our analyses indicate that different T. pallidum subspecies caused similar diagnostic presentations that are normally associated with syphilis in infants, and potential evidence of a congenital infection of T. pallidum ssp. pertenue, the causative agent of yaws. This first reconstruction of T. pallidum genomes from archaeological material opens the possibility of studying its evolutionary history at a resolution previously assumed to be out of reach.