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Published on: July 8, 2011
Yersinia pestis lineages in Mongolia
Julia M Riehm1, Gilles Vergnaud, Daniel Kiefer
1Bundeswehr Institute of Microbiology, Munich, Germany. juliariehm@bundeswehr.org
Plos One
|February 25, 2012
Summary
Mongolia harbors the most recent Yersinia pestis microtus clade. Y. pestis evolution likely occurred in China, with Mongolia re-colonized by recent clades from China.
Area of Science:
- Microbiology
- Genomics
- Epidemiology
Background:
- Whole genome sequencing has advanced Yersinia pestis typing tools.
- Studies of Y. pestis population structure have improved understanding of its origins and spread.
- Y. pestis is believed to have emerged from Yersinia pseudotuberculosis in Central Asia.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the population structure of Yersinia pestis in Mongolia.
- To compare Mongolian Y. pestis strains with global isolates.
- To determine the evolutionary history and geographic origins of Y. pestis in Mongolia.
Main Methods:
- Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Prokaryotic Repeats (CRISPR) analysis.
- Multiple-locus variable number of tandem repeats (MLVA) analysis with 25 loci.
- Single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) analysis for robust cluster assignment.
Main Results:
- 100 Y. pestis strains from 37 Mongolian areas were analyzed.
- Six main clusters were identified, including three microtus biovars.
- A large cluster of 78 isolates with unique Mongolian genotypes was found.
Conclusions:
- Mongolia hosts the most recent Y. pestis microtus clade (Ulegeica).
- Ancestral Y. pestis subspecies pestis nodes found in China were absent in Mongolia.
- Mongolia was likely re-colonized by recent Y. pestis clades from China.
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