Ancient Tuberculosis in The Americas: A Midwestern Perspective

该奖项是根据2009年美国复苏和再投资法案（公法111-5）资助的。 我们对引起结核病的细菌物种（结核分枝杆菌复合体，或MTC）的进化及其对我们自己物种的影响的理解非常有限。 特别是，MTC在美洲大陆的历史仍然没有解决。该项目提出了对来自史前伊利诺伊州Yokem和Schild遗址的古代DNA（aDNA）样本的详细分析。本研究将检测MTC和其他潜在的感染性骨骼病理学原因（芽生菌病，组织胞浆菌病，布鲁氏菌病）在几百个古老的个人从下伊利诺伊河流域，确定MTC感染的时间分布，探讨在四个MTC基因的遗传变异，以确定哪些物种是本和澄清现代MTC的进化树。 它将完善这些疾病的古病理学诊断，并确定新开发的高通量测序（焦磷酸测序）方法是否可以有益地应用于古老病原体的研究。智力优势：这项研究解决了关于人类和病原体进化以及美国史前史的长期问题，从只有aDNA可以提供的角度来看。这些分析将确认、表征和更好地了解欧洲接触前新大陆人民结核病感染的性质，并为新的焦磷酸测序技术应用于这些类型的问题提供概念验证。此外，研究结果将有助于更好地了解这种致残性疾病的演变和流行病学。 更广泛的影响：该项目是与印第安纳州大学基因组中心多用户设施使用下一代焦磷酸测序仪器正在进行的努力的一部分，其结果将提供额外的合作研究。这项研究产生的数据将在多个公开访问的在线数据库中提供。该项目将为两名女研究生和至少一名女本科生提供独特的培训机会，分别作为其论文和荣誉论文的一部分。

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5). Our understanding of the evolution of the bacterial species that cause tuberculosis (the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex, or MTC) and their effect on our own species through time is extremely limited. In particular, the history of MTC on the American continent remains unresolved. This project proposes detailed analyses of ancient DNA (aDNA) samples from the prehistoric Illinois Yokem and Schild sites. This study will detect MTC and other potential infectious causes of skeletal pathology (blastomycosis, histoplasmosis, and brucellosis) in several hundred ancient individuals from the Lower Illinois River Valley, determine the temporal distribution of MTC infection, explore the genetic variation in four MTC genes to identify which species was present and clarify the evolutionary tree of modern MTC. It will refine paleopathological diagnosis of these diseases and determine if newly developed high-throughput sequencing (pyrosequencing) methods can be profitably applied to the study of ancient pathogens. Intellectual Merit: This research addresses long-standing questions about human and pathogen evolution, and American prehistory, from a perspective only aDNA can provide. The analyses will confirm, characterize, and provide better understanding of the nature of tuberculosis infections in peoples in the New World prior to European contact, as well as provide proof-of-concept for the application of new pyrosequencing technology to these types of questions. Additionally, the results will help to better understand the evolution and epidemiology of this crippling disease. Broader Impact: This project is part of an ongoing effort with the Indiana University Genome Center multi-user facility using next-generation pyrosequencing instrumentation, the results of which will provide for additional collaborative research. The data generated from this research will be made available in multiple publicly accessible online databases. The project will provide unique training opportunities for two female graduate students and at least one female undergraduate student, forming a portion of their dissertations and honors thesis, respectively.