Irina L. Kuznetsova^{a, c, #}, Tatiana V. Andreeva^{a, b, c}, Aleksandra B. Malyarchuk^b, Svetlana S. Kunizheva^{a, b, c}, Tatiana V. Tyazhelova^a, Fedor E. Gusev^{a, c}, Andrey D. Manakhov^{a, c}, Maria V. Dobrovolskaya^d, Evgeny I. Rogaev^{a, b, c, ##}

^aSirius University of Science and Technology, Research Centre for Genetics and Life Sciences, Sochi, Russia
^bLomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia
^cN.I. Vavilov Institute of General Genetics RAS, Moscow, Russia
^dInstitute of Archaeology RAS, Moscow, Russia

^#E-mail: irakuzn@gmail.com
^##E-mail: rogaev.ei@talantiuspeh.ru

Keywords: Eurasia, ancient DNA, palaeogenomics, plague.

The development of high-throughput sequencing methods has contributed to significant progress in the study of ancient DNA. While human genomes are the focus of most palaeogenetic research, new technologies are also making it possible to study individual microbial pathogens from various ancient sites. To date, most data have been obtained on the sequences of the ancient genomes of Yersinia pestis (the causative agent of plague). The article provides an analysis of data on the distribution and evolution of plague pathogens in the Neolithic, Bronze, Middle Ages and modern times. The authors discuss hypotheses that link the occurrence of plague epidemics and pandemics in Eurasia with historical, social, and demographic processes. It is argued that the prospects for obtaining state-of-the-art knowledge about the evolution of the plague pathogen are connected with expanding the range of studied archaeological materials. The genomic data of this pathogen supplement the information obtained earlier by palaeopathologists and made it possible not only to identify pathogen strains of pandemics of the past, but also to reveal currently non-existent ones, to clarify the chronology of the emergence of a certain pathogen in human populations, and to reconstruct the evolutionary history of Y. pestis, which is still relevant for public health. The paper reviews the latest achievements in the field of genetic studies of Y. pestis and the new data they helped to obtain on the most well-known plague epidemics in the history of mankind.

DOI: 10.31857/S086960632202012X