Migrating microbes: what pathogens can tell us about population movements and human evolution.

Autor: Houldcroft CJ; a Department of Archaeology and Anthropology, Division of Biological Anthropology , University of Cambridge , Cambridge , UK.; b McDonald Institute of Archaeological Research, University of Cambridge , Cambridge , UK., Ramond JB; c Department of Genetics , Centre for Microbial Ecology and Genomics, Genomic Research Institute, University of Pretoria , Hatfield , South Africa., Rifkin RF; c Department of Genetics , Centre for Microbial Ecology and Genomics, Genomic Research Institute, University of Pretoria , Hatfield , South Africa., Underdown SJ; d Department of Anthropology & Geography, Human Origins and Palaeoenvironmental Research Group (HOPE) , Oxford Brookes University , Oxford , UK.; e Leverhulme Centre for Human Evolutionary Studies , Henry Wellcome Building , Cambridge , UK.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Annals of human biology [Ann Hum Biol] 2017 Aug; Vol. 44 (5), pp. 397-407. Date of Electronic Publication: 2017 May 16.
DOI: 10.1080/03014460.2017.1325515
Abstrakt: Background: The biology of human migration can be observed from the co-evolutionary relationship with infectious diseases. While many pathogens are brief, unpleasant visitors to human bodies, others have the ability to become life-long human passengers. The story of a pathogen's genetic code may, therefore, provide insight into the history of its human host. The evolution and distribution of disease in Africa is of particular interest, because of the deep history of human evolution in Africa, the presence of a variety of non-human primates, and tropical reservoirs of emerging infectious diseases.
Methods: This study explores which pathogens leave traces in the archaeological record, and whether there are realistic prospects that these pathogens can be recovered from sub-Saharan African archaeological contexts.
Results: Three stories are then presented of germs on a journey. The first is the story of HIV's spread on the back of colonialism and the railway networks over the last 150 years. The second involves the spread of Schistosoma mansoni, a parasite which shares its history with the trans-Atlantic slave trade and the origins of fresh-water fishing. Finally, we discuss the tantalising hints of hominin migration and interaction found in the genome of human herpes simplex virus 2.
Conclusions: Evidence from modern African pathogen genomes can provide data on human behaviour and migration in deep time and contribute to the improvement of human quality-of-life and longevity.
Databáze: MEDLINE
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