Response to Brinkmann et al. “Re-assembly of 19th century smallpox vaccine genomes reveals the contemporaneous use of horsepox and horsepox-related viruses in the United States”

Duggan, Ana T.; Holmes, Edward C.; Poinar, Hendrik N.

doi:10.1186/s13059-020-02203-z

Cited by 2 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 4 publications

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“…For example, a 5700-year-old birch pitch reflecting an ancient human oral environment indicated the existence of the Epstein-Barr virus within the microbiome [47]. Vaccinia virus, one of the orthopoxviruses, has also been discovered on vaccination kits from the 1860s, indicating vaccination materials at the early stage of vaccination development [48][49][50].…”

Section: Historical Samplesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Detection of Ancient Viruses and Long-Term Viral Evolution

Nishimura

Fujito

Sugimoto

et al. 2022

Viruses

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The COVID-19 outbreak has reminded us of the importance of viral evolutionary studies as regards comprehending complex viral evolution and preventing future pandemics. A unique approach to understanding viral evolution is the use of ancient viral genomes. Ancient viruses are detectable in various archaeological remains, including ancient people’s skeletons and mummified tissues. Those specimens have preserved ancient viral DNA and RNA, which have been vigorously analyzed in the last few decades thanks to the development of sequencing technologies. Reconstructed ancient pathogenic viral genomes have been utilized to estimate the past pandemics of pathogenic viruses within the ancient human population and long-term evolutionary events. Recent studies revealed the existence of non-pathogenic viral genomes in ancient people’s bodies. These ancient non-pathogenic viruses might be informative for inferring their relationships with ancient people’s diets and lifestyles. Here, we reviewed the past and ongoing studies on ancient pathogenic and non-pathogenic viruses and the usage of ancient viral genomes to understand their long-term viral evolution.

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Section: Historical Samplesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Detection of Ancient Viruses and Long-Term Viral Evolution

Nishimura

Fujito

Sugimoto

et al. 2022

Viruses

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show abstract

Genetic ancestry and population structure of vaccinia virus

et al. 2022

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Vaccinia virus (VACV) was used for smallpox eradication, but its ultimate origin remains unknown. The genetic relationships among vaccine stocks are also poorly understood. We analyzed 63 vaccine strains with different origin, as well horsepox virus (HPXV). Results indicated the genetic diversity of VACV is intermediate between variola and cowpox viruses, and that mutation contributed more than recombination to VACV evolution. STRUCTURE identified 9 contributing subpopulations and showed that the lowest drift was experienced by the ancestry components of Tian Tan and HPXV/Mütter/Mulford genomes. Subpopulations that experienced very strong drift include those that contributed the ancestry of MVA and IHD-W, in good agreement with the very long passage history of these vaccines. Another highly drifted population contributed the full ancestry of viruses sampled from human/cattle infections in Brazil and, partially, to IOC clones, strongly suggesting that the recurrent infections in Brazil derive from the spillback of IOC to the feral state.

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Response to Brinkmann et al. “Re-assembly of 19th century smallpox vaccine genomes reveals the contemporaneous use of horsepox and horsepox-related viruses in the United States”

Abstract: We thank Brinkmann and colleagues for their correspondence and their further investigation into these American Civil War Era vaccination strains. Here, we summarize the difficulties and caveats of work with ancient DNA.

Cited by 2 publications

References 4 publications

Detection of Ancient Viruses and Long-Term Viral Evolution

Detection of Ancient Viruses and Long-Term Viral Evolution

Genetic ancestry and population structure of vaccinia virus

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