[Ecological regularities of the existence of pathogenic Yersinia in soil ecosystems]

In this review the data on the ecology of pathogenic Yersinia in soil ecosystems, based on prolonged observations, were analyzed and summarized. In contrast to saprophytic species, ubiquitously spread in nature, pathogenic representatives of the genus Yersinia occurred only in the soil of natural foci and of these, Y. pestis were found only in the soil of burrows of the main carriers. The complex of abiotic and biotic factors (temperature, humidity, chemical composition, interactions in biocenosis) which determined the possibility of the existence of Yersinia in the soil environment and the preservation of their pathogenic properties was considered. Special attention was paid to their geno-phenotypic variability as the main factor of the adaptation of the causative agents of plague, pseudotuberculosis and intestinal yersiniosis in the environment.