Phylogenetic Analysis of Yersinia pestis Strains of Medieval Biovar from Natural Plague Foci of the Russian Federation and Bordering Countries

Objective of the study is to conduct phylogenetic investigation of Yersinia pestis strains (medieval biovar) from plague foci of Russia and bordering countries, using SNP-analysis of the genome-wide sequences of these strains. Materials and methods. Carried out has been sequencing of 14 Y. pestis strains, medieval biovar, from 13 natural plague foci of Russia and neighboring states, as well as their comparison to 9 strains of the same biovar, contained in the NCBI GenBank database. Using software products - Wombac 2.0 and Bionumerics 7.1, revealed is the presence of 1875 core SNPs, on the basis of which a dendrogram of phylogenetic relations between medieval strains is constructed. Results and conclusions. In consequence of genome-wide SNP-analysis, it is established that Y. pestis strains, medieval biovar, from plague foci of Russia and bordering states are assigned to 2.MED1 phylogenetic line and fall under two major evolutionary branches, the first one of which includes strains from the Caucasus and Caspian-Sea regions, and the second one - from Central Asia and China. The data obtained can be used for the development of molecular-genetic methods for differentiation of Y. pestis strains, medieval biovar.