Ancient viral genomes reveal introduction of human pathogenic viruses into Mexico during the transatlantic slave trade

eLife

Benjamin R TenOever¹  Daniel Blanco-Melo²  Julie K Wesp³  Jorge A Gómez-Valdés⁴  Alejandro Meraz⁵  María de la Luz Moreno-Cabrera⁵  Peter Schaaf⁶  María C Ávila Arcos⁷  Miriam J Bravo-López⁷  Viridiana Villa-Islas⁷  Axel A Guzmán-Solís⁷  Gabriela Solís-Pichardo⁸  Marcela Sandoval-Velasco⁹ 

[1] Department of Microbiology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, United States;Department of Microbiology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, United States;Vaccine and Infectious Disease Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA, United States;Department of Sociology and Anthropology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, United States;Escuela Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Mexico City, Mexico;Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Mexico City, Mexico;LUGIS, Instituto de Geofísica, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City, Mexico;Laboratorio Internacional de Investigación sobre el Genoma Humano, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Querétaro, Mexico;Laboratorio Universitario de Geoquímica Isotópica (LUGIS), Instituto de Geología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City, Mexico;Section for Evolutionary Genomics, The Globe Institute, Faculty of Health, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark;

关键词: aDNA;    Africa;    paleovirology;    B19V;    HBV;    paleogenomics;    Human;    Viruses;   

DOI  :  10.7554/eLife.68612

来源: eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd

【 摘 要 】

After the European colonization of the Americas, there was a dramatic population collapse of the Indigenous inhabitants caused in part by the introduction of new pathogens. Although there is much speculation on the etiology of the Colonial epidemics, direct evidence for the presence of specific viruses during the Colonial era is lacking. To uncover the diversity of viral pathogens during this period, we designed an enrichment assay targeting ancient DNA (aDNA) from viruses of clinical importance and applied it to DNA extracts from individuals found in a Colonial hospital and a Colonial chapel (16th–18th century) where records suggest that victims of epidemics were buried during important outbreaks in Mexico City. This allowed us to reconstruct three ancient human parvovirus B19 genomes and one ancient human hepatitis B virus genome from distinct individuals. The viral genomes are similar to African strains, consistent with the inferred morphological and genetic African ancestry of the hosts as well as with the isotopic analysis of the human remains, suggesting an origin on the African continent. This study provides direct molecular evidence of ancient viruses being transported to the Americas during the transatlantic slave trade and their subsequent introduction to New Spain. Altogether, our observations enrich the discussion about the etiology of infectious diseases during the Colonial period in Mexico.

【 授权许可】

CC BY