This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5). Our understanding of the evolution of the bacterial species that cause tuberculosis (the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex, or MTC) and their effect on our own species through time is extremely limited. In particular, the history of MTC on the American continent remains unresolved. This project proposes detailed analyses of ancient DNA (aDNA) samples from the prehistoric Illinois Yokem and Schild sites. This study will detect MTC and other potential infectious causes of skeletal pathology (blastomycosis, histoplasmosis, and brucellosis) in several hundred ancient individuals from the Lower Illinois River Valley, determine the temporal distribution of MTC infection, explore the genetic variation in four MTC genes to identify which species was present and clarify the evolutionary tree of modern MTC. It will refine paleopathological diagnosis of these diseases and determine if newly developed high-throughput sequencing (pyrosequencing) methods can be profitably applied to the study of ancient pathogens.
Intellectual Merit: This research addresses long-standing questions about human and pathogen evolution, and American prehistory, from a perspective only aDNA can provide. The analyses will confirm, characterize, and provide better understanding of the nature of tuberculosis infections in peoples in the New World prior to European contact, as well as provide proof-of-concept for the application of new pyrosequencing technology to these types of questions. Additionally, the results will help to better understand the evolution and epidemiology of this crippling disease.
Broader Impact: This project is part of an ongoing effort with the Indiana University Genome Center multi-user facility using next-generation pyrosequencing instrumentation, the results of which will provide for additional collaborative research. The data generated from this research will be made available in multiple publicly accessible online databases. The project will provide unique training opportunities for two female graduate students and at least one female undergraduate student, forming a portion of their dissertations and honors thesis, respectively.
