Ten millennia of hepatitis B virus evolution



Kocher, Arthur, Papac, Luka, Barquera, Rodrigo, Key, Felix M, Spyrou, Maria A, Hubler, Ron, Rohrlach, Adam B, Aron, Franziska, Stahl, Raphaela, Wissgott, Antje
et al (show 159 more authors) (2021) Ten millennia of hepatitis B virus evolution. SCIENCE, 374 (6564). 183-+.

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Abstract

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) has been infecting humans for millennia and remains a global health problem, but its past diversity and dispersal routes are largely unknown. We generated HBV genomic data from 137 Eurasians and Native Americans dated between ~10,500 and ~400 years ago. We date the most recent common ancestor of all HBV lineages to between ~20,000 and 12,000 years ago, with the virus present in European and South American hunter-gatherers during the early Holocene. After the European Neolithic transition, Mesolithic HBV strains were replaced by a lineage likely disseminated by early farmers that prevailed throughout western Eurasia for ~4000 years, declining around the end of the 2nd millennium BCE. The only remnant of this prehistoric HBV diversity is the rare genotype G, which appears to have reemerged during the HIV pandemic.

Item Type: Article
Uncontrolled Keywords: Humans, Hepatitis B virus, Communicable Diseases, Emerging, Hepatitis B, Genomics, Evolution, Molecular, Phylogeny, Paleontology, History, Ancient, Americas, Asia, Europe, Genetic Variation, Asian People, White People, American Indian or Alaska Native
Divisions: Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences > School of Histories, Languages and Cultures
Depositing User: Symplectic Admin
Date Deposited: 18 Jan 2022 15:38
Last Modified: 11 Feb 2023 03:01
DOI: 10.1126/science.abi5658
Open Access URL: https://dspace.lib.cranfield.ac.uk/bitstream/handl...
Related URLs:
URI: https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3147125