Neolithic Yersinia pestis infections in humans and a dog.

Yersinia pestis has been infecting humans since the Late Neolithic (LN). Whether those early infections were isolated zoonoses or initiators of a pandemic remains unclear. We report Y.

Ancient genomes lack the virulence-associated Ypf prophage present in modern pandemic strains.

is the causative agent of at least three major plague pandemics (Justinianic, Medieval and Modern). Previous studies on ancient genomes revealed that several genomic alterations had occurred approximately 5000-3000 years ago and contributed to the remarkable virulence of this pathogen. How a subset of strains evolved to cause the Modern pandemic is less well-understood.

Human bony labyrinth as a sex indicator in subadults.

Due to the durability and good preservation of the petrous bone in archaeological and forensic contexts, the value of the inner ear as a sex indicator has been evaluated in various studies. Previous findings suggest that the morphology of the bony labyrinth is not stable in the postnatal period. In this study, we aim to assess the sexual dimorphism of the bony labyrinth via analysis of computed tomography (CT) data obtained from 170 subadults (birth to 20 y.

Pathogen genomics study of an early medieval community in Germany reveals extensive co-infections.

Background: The pathogen landscape in the Early European Middle Ages remains largely unexplored. Here, we perform a systematic pathogen screening of the rural community Lauchheim "Mittelhofen," in present-day Germany, dated to the Merovingian period, between fifth and eighth century CE. Skeletal remains of individuals were subjected to an ancient DNA metagenomic analysis.

Ancient DNA Study in Medieval Europeans Shows an Association Between HLA-DRB1*03 and Paratyphoid Fever.

Outbreaks of infectious diseases repeatedly affected medieval Europe, leaving behind a large number of dead often inhumed in mass graves. Human remains interred in two burial pits from 14 century CE Germany exhibited molecular evidence of Paratyphi C ( Paratyphi C) infection. The pathogen is responsible for paratyphoid fever, which was likely the cause of death for the buried individuals.

Postnatal changes of the human bony labyrinth morphology.

It has been suggested that the inner ear attains its final morphology already in utero and that environmental factors do not influence its size or shape after birth. Thus, direct comparison between the adult and the subadult bony labyrinths can be made. Herein, this hypothesis was tested in a sample of 170 subadult individuals.

Sexual dimorphism of the lateral angle: Is it really applicable in forensic sex estimation?

Objective: The aim of this study was to test the validity of a previously proposed lateral angle (LA) method for sex assessment of human skeletal remains in the forensic setting.

Material And Methods: Computed tomography (CT) scans of 102 crania of Greek adults were used to test the validity of the LA method for sex estimation. The measurement procedure used in this study is a modified version of a method previously proposed by Akansel et al.

Genome-wide study of a Neolithic Wartberg grave community reveals distinct HLA variation and hunter-gatherer ancestry.

The Wartberg culture (WBC, 3500-2800 BCE) dates to the Late Neolithic period, a time of important demographic and cultural transformations in western Europe. We performed genome-wide analyses of 42 individuals who were interred in a WBC collective burial in Niedertiefenbach, Germany (3300-3200 cal. BCE).

Yersinia pestis strains from Latvia show depletion of the pla virulence gene at the end of the second plague pandemic.

Ancient genomic studies have identified Yersinia pestis (Y. pestis) as the causative agent of the second plague pandemic (fourteenth-eighteenth century) that started with the Black Death (1,347-1,353). Most of the Y.

Targeted analysis of polymorphic loci from low-coverage shotgun sequence data allows accurate genotyping of HLA genes in historical human populations.

The highly polymorphic human leukocyte antigen (HLA) plays a crucial role in adaptive immunity and is associated with various complex diseases. Accurate analysis of HLA genes using ancient DNA (aDNA) data is crucial for understanding their role in human adaptation to pathogens. Here, we describe the TARGT pipeline for targeted analysis of polymorphic loci from low-coverage shotgun sequence data.

The posterior portion of the ilium as a sex indicator: A validation study.

Establishing a biological profile of skeletal remains is a key task of forensic anthropologists. Sex estimation is essential in forensic examination, as other elements of the biological profile, such as age at death or stature, are sex dependent. Visual assessment is considered low-cost and quick, therefore it is a commonly applied method of sex estimation.