Characterization of Two Historic Smallpox Specimens from a Czech Museum

Pajer, P.; Dresler, J.; Kabickova, H.; Píša, L.; Aganov, P.; Fucik, K.; Elleder, Daniel; Hron, Tomáš; Kuželka, V.; Velemínský, P.; Klimentová, J.; Fučíková, A.; Pejchal, J.; Hrabáková, Rita; Beneš, V.; Rausch, T.; Dundr, P.; Pilin, A.; Čabala, R.; Hubálek, Martin; Stříbrný, J.; Antwerpen, M.H.; Meyer, H.

doi:https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/v9080200

Number of the records: 1

Characterization of Two Historic Smallpox Specimens from a Czech Museum

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SYSNO ASEP	0478813
Document Type	J - Journal Article
R&D Document Type	Journal Article
Subsidiary J	Článek ve WOS
Title	Characterization of Two Historic Smallpox Specimens from a Czech Museum
Author(s)	Pajer, P. (CZ) Dresler, J. (CZ) Kabickova, H. (CZ) Píša, L. (CZ) Aganov, P. (CZ) Fucik, K. (CZ) Elleder, Daniel (UMG-J)_RID Hron, Tomáš (UMG-J) Kuželka, V. (CZ) Velemínský, P. (CZ) Klimentová, J. (CZ) Fučíková, A. (CZ) Pejchal, J. (CZ) Hrabáková, Rita (UZFG-Y)_{RID, ORCID} Beneš, V. (DE) Rausch, T. (CZ) Dundr, P. (CZ) Pilin, A. (CZ) Čabala, R. (CZ) Hubálek, Martin (UOCHB-X)_{RID, ORCID} Stříbrný, J. (CZ) Antwerpen, M.H. (DE) Meyer, H. (DE)
Number of authors	23
Article number	200
Source Title	Viruses. - : MDPI Roč. 9, č. 8 (2017)
Number of pages	14 s.
Language	eng - English
Country	CH - Switzerland
Keywords	smallpox ; variola virus ; evolution ; next generation suquencing ; historic specimen ; phylogeny
Subject RIV	EB - Genetics ; Molecular Biology
OECD category	Virology
Institutional support	UMG-J - RVO:68378050 ; UZFG-Y - RVO:67985904 ; UOCHB-X - RVO:61388963
UT WOS	000408742900007
DOI	10.3390/v9080200
Annotation	Although smallpox has been known for centuries, the oldest available variola virus strains were isolated in the early 1940s. At that time, large regions of the world were already smallpox-free. Therefore, genetic information of these strains can represent only the very last fraction of a long evolutionary process. Based on the genomes of 48 strains, two clades are differentiated: Clade 1 includes variants of variola major, and clade 2 includesWest African and variola minor (Alastrim) strains. Recently, the genome of an almost 400-year-old Lithuanian mummy was determined, which fell basal to all currently sequenced strains of variola virus on phylogenetic trees. Here, we determined two complete variola virus genomes from human tissues kept in a museum in Prague dating back 60 and 160 years, respectively. Moreover, mass spectrometry-based proteomic, chemical, and microscopic examinations were performed. The 60-year-old specimen was most likely an importation from India, a country with endemic smallpox at that time. The genome of the 160-year-old specimen is related to clade 2 West African and variola minor strains. This sequence likely represents a new endemic European variant of variola virus circulating in the midst of the 19th century in Europe.
Workplace	Institute of Molecular Genetics
Contact	Nikol Škňouřilová, nikol.sknourilova@img.cas.cz, Tel.: 241 063 217
Year of Publishing	2018

Number of the records: 1