Characterizing the impact of Yersinia Pestis to the phenotypic evolution of the human immune system

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Project Summary Pathogens are one of the strongest selective pressures on the human genome. As modern humans migrated out of Africa, they encountered markedly different pathogenic environments, likely resulting in population-specific selection of immune phenotypes. Consistent with this hypothesis, some of the most compelling evidence for local positive selection in the human genome has been detected among genes involved in immunity and host defense. Yet, our understanding of the role that local adaptation plays in shaping phenotypic variation in immune responses across populations is still in its infancy. To better understand the complex relationship between pathogens and host adaptation we propose to study the selective impact on the immune system of one of the most devastating pathogens in history – Yersinia pestis, the agent of the Black Death. Since its emergence in Eurasia 1500 to 6400 years ago Y. pestis has swept Eurasia and North and Central Africa in two major pandemics (Justinian, 541-544; Black Death, starting 1347- 1351) and has subsequently spread nearly worldwide via a third ongoing pandemic. Although Y. pestis is proposed to have severely culled the Eurasian population, how groups that differ in their historical exposure to plague respond to the pathogen is not known. Addressing this gap is not only important for understanding the recent evolution of the human immune system, but may also help reveal the molecular basis of ancestry- related differences in susceptibility to infectious diseases, chronic inflammatory disorders, and autoimmune disorders. Using combined expertise in human genomics, immunology, infectious diseases and ancient DNA, we propose: (i) to characterize inter-individual and inter-population variability in immune responses to infection with Y. pestis; (ii) to map expression quantitative trait loci (eQTLs) that are associated with variation in response to infection with Y. pestis; and (iii) to identify genetic loci showing signatures of positive selection by Y. pestis by looking at “real-time” fluctuations in allele frequencies among immune-related genes and immunological QTLs sequenced from skeletal remains of European populations living before, during, and after the Black Death. This work is expected to yield unprecedented insight into the genetic mechanisms associated with increased protection against Y. pestis as well as reveal novel genetic markers involved in the susceptibility to and/or protection against contemporary infectious diseases