On the origin of the treponematoses: a phylogenetic approach.
BACKGROUND:Since the first recorded epidemic of syphilis in 1495, controversy has surrounded the origins of the bacterium Treponema pallidum subsp. pallidum and its relationship to the pathogens responsible for the other treponemal diseases: yaws, endemic syphilis, and pinta. Some researchers have a...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:5def6589c0184937b019e92b715a9424 2023-05-15T15:09:54+02:00 On the origin of the treponematoses: a phylogenetic approach. Kristin N Harper Paolo S Ocampo Bret M Steiner Robert W George Michael S Silverman Shelly Bolotin Allan Pillay Nigel J Saunders George J Armelagos 2008-01-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0000148 https://doaj.org/article/5def6589c0184937b019e92b715a9424 EN eng Public Library of Science (PLoS) http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC2217670?pdf=render https://doaj.org/toc/1935-2727 https://doaj.org/toc/1935-2735 1935-2727 1935-2735 doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0000148 https://doaj.org/article/5def6589c0184937b019e92b715a9424 PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, Vol 2, Iss 1, p e148 (2008) Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 article 2008 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0000148 2022-12-31T00:11:42Z BACKGROUND:Since the first recorded epidemic of syphilis in 1495, controversy has surrounded the origins of the bacterium Treponema pallidum subsp. pallidum and its relationship to the pathogens responsible for the other treponemal diseases: yaws, endemic syphilis, and pinta. Some researchers have argued that the syphilis-causing bacterium, or its progenitor, was brought from the New World to Europe by Christopher Columbus and his men, while others maintain that the treponematoses, including syphilis, have a much longer history on the European continent. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS:We applied phylogenetics to this problem, using data from 21 genetic regions examined in 26 geographically disparate strains of pathogenic Treponema. Of all the strains examined, the venereal syphilis-causing strains originated most recently and were more closely related to yaws-causing strains from South America than to other non-venereal strains. Old World yaws-causing strains occupied a basal position on the tree, indicating that they arose first in human history, and a simian strain of T. pallidum was found to be indistinguishable from them. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE:Our results lend support to the Columbian theory of syphilis's origin while suggesting that the non-sexually transmitted subspecies arose earlier in the Old World. This study represents the first attempt to address the problem of the origin of syphilis using molecular genetics, as well as the first source of information regarding the genetic make-up of non-venereal strains from the Western hemisphere. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases 2 1 e148 |
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Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
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ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 |
spellingShingle |
Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 Kristin N Harper Paolo S Ocampo Bret M Steiner Robert W George Michael S Silverman Shelly Bolotin Allan Pillay Nigel J Saunders George J Armelagos On the origin of the treponematoses: a phylogenetic approach. |
topic_facet |
Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 |
description |
BACKGROUND:Since the first recorded epidemic of syphilis in 1495, controversy has surrounded the origins of the bacterium Treponema pallidum subsp. pallidum and its relationship to the pathogens responsible for the other treponemal diseases: yaws, endemic syphilis, and pinta. Some researchers have argued that the syphilis-causing bacterium, or its progenitor, was brought from the New World to Europe by Christopher Columbus and his men, while others maintain that the treponematoses, including syphilis, have a much longer history on the European continent. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS:We applied phylogenetics to this problem, using data from 21 genetic regions examined in 26 geographically disparate strains of pathogenic Treponema. Of all the strains examined, the venereal syphilis-causing strains originated most recently and were more closely related to yaws-causing strains from South America than to other non-venereal strains. Old World yaws-causing strains occupied a basal position on the tree, indicating that they arose first in human history, and a simian strain of T. pallidum was found to be indistinguishable from them. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE:Our results lend support to the Columbian theory of syphilis's origin while suggesting that the non-sexually transmitted subspecies arose earlier in the Old World. This study represents the first attempt to address the problem of the origin of syphilis using molecular genetics, as well as the first source of information regarding the genetic make-up of non-venereal strains from the Western hemisphere. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Kristin N Harper Paolo S Ocampo Bret M Steiner Robert W George Michael S Silverman Shelly Bolotin Allan Pillay Nigel J Saunders George J Armelagos |
author_facet |
Kristin N Harper Paolo S Ocampo Bret M Steiner Robert W George Michael S Silverman Shelly Bolotin Allan Pillay Nigel J Saunders George J Armelagos |
author_sort |
Kristin N Harper |
title |
On the origin of the treponematoses: a phylogenetic approach. |
title_short |
On the origin of the treponematoses: a phylogenetic approach. |
title_full |
On the origin of the treponematoses: a phylogenetic approach. |
title_fullStr |
On the origin of the treponematoses: a phylogenetic approach. |
title_full_unstemmed |
On the origin of the treponematoses: a phylogenetic approach. |
title_sort |
on the origin of the treponematoses: a phylogenetic approach. |
publisher |
Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
publishDate |
2008 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0000148 https://doaj.org/article/5def6589c0184937b019e92b715a9424 |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic |
genre_facet |
Arctic |
op_source |
PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, Vol 2, Iss 1, p e148 (2008) |
op_relation |
http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC2217670?pdf=render https://doaj.org/toc/1935-2727 https://doaj.org/toc/1935-2735 1935-2727 1935-2735 doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0000148 https://doaj.org/article/5def6589c0184937b019e92b715a9424 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0000148 |
container_title |
PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases |
container_volume |
2 |
container_issue |
1 |
container_start_page |
e148 |
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1766341000517648384 |