鼠疫历史疫情的考古微生物学研究进展

鼠疫是由鼠疫耶尔森氏菌(简称鼠疫菌)引发的烈性传染病,人类历史上曾发生3次大规模的鼠疫大流行。近年来,考古微生物学得到长足发展,使得研究人员可以对历史上的鼠疫疫情进行探索,为鼠疫的起源、传播以及鼠疫菌的进化等关键问题提供更为深刻的理解。本文就关于考古微生物学方法在古代鼠疫疫情研究领域取得的进展进行简单综述:包括基于PCR、蛋白质分析以及基因组序列测定在内的考古微生物学研究技术方法;基于以上技术确认查士丁尼瘟疫和黑死病的病原体为鼠疫菌;新石器时代晚期至青铜时代就已经存在人类感染鼠疫菌的病例;通过分子钟分析将鼠疫菌的物种形成时间确定为5000-7500年前。考古微生物学方法不仅可以继续推进鼠疫和鼠疫菌的相关研究,也将为其他历史传染病的研究提供有益借鉴。

Progresses of ancient plague pandemics investigations with paleomicrobiological insights

Plague is a notorious infectious disease caused by Yersinia pestis that has caused three devastating pandemics in the human history. In recent years, the development of paleomicrobiology has allowed researchers to explore the historical plague pandemics in further details, providing a much deeper understanding of certain controversial issues, such as the origin and dissemination of plague, and the molecular evolution of Y. pestis. This paper briefly reviews the progresses in ancient plague pandemics investigations with the help of paleomicrobiological techniques: PCR, proteomic and genomic analysis on the ruins of victims confirmed that Y. pestis was indeed the causative agent of historic plague pandemics, including the Justinian Plague and the Black Death; human plague cases occurred no later than Late Neolithic to the Bronze Age; and the speciation time of Y. pestis was pin-pointed to 5, 000 to 7, 500 years ago. Paleomicrobiological methods will not only speed researches on specific topics of plague and Y. pestis, but also shed light on the studies of other historical infectious disease pandemics.