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An 8000 years old genome reveals the Neolithic origin of the zoonosis Brucella melitensis

Author

Listed:
  • Louis L’Hôte

    (Trinity College Dublin)

  • Ian Light

    (Evolutionary Pathogenomics)

  • Valeria Mattiangeli

    (Trinity College Dublin)

  • Matthew D. Teasdale

    (Trinity College Dublin
    Faculty of Medical Sciences, Newcastle University)

  • Áine Halpin

    (Trinity College Dublin)

  • Lionel Gourichon

    (CEPAM)

  • Felix M. Key

    (Evolutionary Pathogenomics)

  • Kevin G. Daly

    (Trinity College Dublin
    University College Dublin)

Abstract

Brucella melitensis is a major livestock bacterial pathogen and zoonosis, causing disease and infection-related abortions in small ruminants and humans. A considerable burden to animal-based economies today, the presence of Brucella in Neolithic pastoral communities has been hypothesised but we lack direct genomic evidence thus far. We report a 3.45X B. melitensis genome preserved in an ~8000 year old sheep specimen from Menteşe Höyük, Northwest Türkiye, demonstrating that the pathogen had evolved and was circulating in Neolithic livestock. The genome is basal with respect to all known B. melitensis and allows the calibration of the B. melitensis speciation time from the primarily cattle-infecting B. abortus to approximately 9800 years Before Present (BP), coinciding with a period of consolidation and dispersal of livestock economies. We use the basal genome to timestamp evolutionary events in B. melitensis, including pseudogenization events linked to erythritol response, the supposed determinant of the pathogen’s placental tropism in goats and sheep. Our data suggest that the development of herd management and multi-species livestock economies in the 11th–9th millennium BP drove speciation and host adaptation of this zoonotic pathogen.

Suggested Citation

  • Louis L’Hôte & Ian Light & Valeria Mattiangeli & Matthew D. Teasdale & Áine Halpin & Lionel Gourichon & Felix M. Key & Kevin G. Daly, 2024. "An 8000 years old genome reveals the Neolithic origin of the zoonosis Brucella melitensis," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-10, December.
  • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:15:y:2024:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-024-50536-1
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-50536-1
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Kirsten I. Bos & Kelly M. Harkins & Alexander Herbig & Mireia Coscolla & Nico Weber & Iñaki Comas & Stephen A. Forrest & Josephine M. Bryant & Simon R. Harris & Verena J. Schuenemann & Tessa J. Campbe, 2014. "Pre-Columbian mycobacterial genomes reveal seals as a source of New World human tuberculosis," Nature, Nature, vol. 514(7523), pages 494-497, October.
    2. Richard P. Evershed & Sebastian Payne & Andrew G. Sherratt & Mark S. Copley & Jennifer Coolidge & Duska Urem-Kotsu & Kostas Kotsakis & Mehmet Özdoğan & Aslý E. Özdoğan & Olivier Nieuwenhuyse & Peter M, 2008. "Earliest date for milk use in the Near East and southeastern Europe linked to cattle herding," Nature, Nature, vol. 455(7212), pages 528-531, September.
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