Projects per year
Abstract / Description of output
Host species switches by bacterial pathogens leading to new endemic infections are important evolutionary events that are difficult to reconstruct over the long term. We investigated the host switching of Staphylococcus aureus over a long evolutionary timeframe by developing Bayesian phylogenetic methods to account for uncertainty about past host associations and using estimates of evolutionary rates from serially sampled whole-genome data. Results suggest multiple jumps back and forth between human and bovids with the first switch from humans to bovids taking place around 5500 BP, coinciding with the expansion of cattle domestication throughout the Old World. The first switch to poultry is estimated at around 275 BP, long after domestication but still preceding large-scale commercial farming. These results are consistent with a central role for anthropogenic change in the emergence of new endemic diseases.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 829-832 |
Journal | Biology letters |
Volume | 8 |
Issue number | 5 |
Early online date | 26 May 2012 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2012 |
Keywords / Materials (for Non-textual outputs)
- Bayesian phylogenetics
- molecular clocks
- bacterial evolution
- host switching
Fingerprint
Dive into the research topics of 'Molecular dating of human-to-bovid host jumps by Staphylococcus aureus reveals an association with the spread of domestication'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.Projects
- 2 Finished
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Innate immunity and endemic diseases in livestock species
Collie, D., Beard, P., Bishop, S., Bronsvoort, M., Burt, D., Fitzgerald, R., Freeman, T., Gally, D., Gill, A., Glass, E., Hocking, P., Hope, J., Hume, D., Kaiser, P., Mabbott, N., McLachlan, G., Morrison, L., Stevens, J., Stevens, M. & Watson, M.
1/04/12 → 31/03/17
Project: Research
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VIRAL PHYLOGEOGRAPHY: Evolutionary reconstruction of viral spread in time and space
1/10/10 → 30/09/15
Project: Research
Activities
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NIH, Div Int Epidemiol & Populat Studies, Fogarty Int Ctr (External organisation)
Andrew Rambaut (Member)
Sept 2009 → Aug 2015Activity: Membership types › Membership of external research organisation
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NESCENT Working Group meeting on Software for Bayesian Evolutionary Analysis by Sampling Trees
Andrew Rambaut (Organiser)
2009 → 2013Activity: Participating in or organising an event types › Participation in workshop, seminar, course