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dc.contributor.authorHodgins, Harold
dc.date.accessioned2022-09-08 20:12:23 (GMT)
dc.date.available2023-09-09 04:50:06 (GMT)
dc.date.issued2022-09-08
dc.date.submitted2022-09-04
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10012/18724
dc.description.abstractAnalyzing microbial genomes found in archaeological samples can provide insights into the origins of modern infectious diseases. A large-scale metagenomic analysis of archeological samples discovered bacterial species related to modern-day Clostridium tetani (which produces the tetanus neurotoxin (TeNT) and causes the disease tetanus). Draft genomes were assembled from 38 distinct human archeological samples (which came from five continents with the oldest sample estimated to be ~6000 years old) and which displayed hallmarks of ancient DNA damage to varying degrees. A phylogenetic analysis of the draft genomes found several which fall into existing C. tetani clades, several potentially novel C. tetani lineages, and a potentially novel Clostridium species related to modern C. tetani. Fifteen TeNT variants were found, including a unique variant found exclusively in ancient samples from South America. A TeNT variant associated with a ~6,000-year-old Chilean mummy sample was experimentally tested and was found to induce tetanus like muscle paralysis in mice with a potency similar to modern TeNT. This work provides the first identification of neurotoxigenic C. tetani in ancient DNA, the discovery of a potentially new Clostridium species, and the discovery of a tetanus like neurotoxin which is functionally active and able to cause disease in mice.en
dc.language.isoenen
dc.publisherUniversity of Waterlooen
dc.relation.urihttps://github.com/harohodg/aDNA-tetanus-analysisen
dc.subjectancient DNAen
dc.subjectnovel clostridial speciesen
dc.subjectNCBI SRAen
dc.subjecttetanus neurotoxinen
dc.subjectSRA STATen
dc.titlePetabase-scale Data Mining Identifies Novel Clostridial Species and Neurotoxins Associated with Ancient Human DNAen
dc.typeMaster Thesisen
dc.pendingfalse
uws-etd.degree.departmentBiologyen
uws-etd.degree.disciplineBiologyen
uws-etd.degree.grantorUniversity of Waterlooen
uws-etd.degreeMaster of Scienceen
uws-etd.embargo.terms1 yearen
uws.contributor.advisorDoxey, Andrew
uws.contributor.affiliation1Faculty of Scienceen
uws.published.cityWaterlooen
uws.published.countryCanadaen
uws.published.provinceOntarioen
uws.typeOfResourceTexten
uws.peerReviewStatusUnrevieweden
uws.scholarLevelGraduateen


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