NEW YORK – New research has revealed details about the history of the syphilis-causing bacterial species Treponema pallidum, suggesting that it was present in the Americas prior to the arrival of European explorers in 1492, who brought it back to Europe.

纽约——新的研究揭示了引起梅毒的细菌梅毒螺旋体的历史细节，表明它在1492年欧洲探险家将其带回欧洲之前就已经存在于美洲。

'The data clearly support a root in the Americas for syphilis and its known relatives, and their introduction to Europe starting in the late 15th century is most consistent with the data,' Kirsten Bos, a molecular paleopathology group leader at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology who co-led the work, said in a statement..

马克斯·普朗克进化人类学研究所（Max Planck Institute for Evolutional Anthropology）的分子古病理学小组组长柯尔斯滕·博斯（Kirsten Bos）在一份声明中说：“这些数据清楚地支持了梅毒及其已知亲属在美洲的起源，他们从15世纪末开始进入欧洲，这与数据最为一致。”。。

Bos noted that though Indigenous American groups 'harbored early forms of these diseases, Europeans were instrumental in spreading them around the world.'

博斯指出，尽管美洲土著群体“藏匿着这些疾病的早期形式，但欧洲人在全世界传播这些疾病方面发挥了重要作用。”

Although syphilis is believed to be behind a well-known disease outbreak that spread within Europe in 1495, there has been an ongoing debate over the source of this outbreak, with the pre-Columbian and Columbian theories positing that T. pallidum was present in Europe before and after contact with the Americas, respectively..

虽然梅毒被认为是1495年在欧洲传播的一场众所周知的疾病爆发的原因，但关于这次爆发的来源一直存在争议，哥伦布前和哥伦布理论认为梅毒在与美洲接触之前和之后都存在于欧洲。。

'Several genomes from the syphilis family have been reconstructed from archaeological bone, but these haven't been able to address core questions related to the pre- or post-Columbian theories surrounding syphilis,' Bos said, noting that the new data 'clearly support a root in the Americas for syphilis and its known relatives, and their introduction to Europe starting in the late 15th century.'.

博斯说：“梅毒家族的几个基因组已经从考古骨骼中重建出来，但这些基因组还不能解决与哥伦布前后梅毒理论相关的核心问题。”他指出，新数据“显然支持梅毒及其已知亲属在美洲的根据，以及从15世纪末开始将其引入欧洲。”。

As they reported in Nature on Wednesday, Bos and Johannes Krause, director of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology's archaeogenetics department, led a team of investigators who used ancient DNA sequencing to determine whether the T. pallidum bacteria behind the diseases syphilis, yaws, bejel, and pinta were present in the Americas before Columbian settlers arrived..

正如他们周三在《自然》杂志上报道的那样，博斯和马克斯·普朗克进化人类学研究所考古遗传学系主任约翰内斯·克劳斯领导了一个研究小组，他们使用古代DNA测序来确定梅毒、雅司病、贝杰尔病和品塔病背后的梅毒螺旋体细菌是否在哥伦比亚定居者抵达美洲之前就已经存在。。

After screening for ancient T. pallidum DNA in bone samples with syphilis-like lesions from dozens of individuals at pre-Columbian archaeological sites in Chile, Mexico, Peru, and Argentina, the researchers relied on capture-based sequencing to put together genome sequences for five ancient T. pallidum pathogens from pre-European contact and peri-European contact samples..

在智利、墨西哥、秘鲁和阿根廷哥伦布发现前考古遗址的数十个人的梅毒样病变骨骼样本中筛选出古代梅毒螺旋体DNA后，研究人员依靠基于捕获的测序技术，将来自欧洲接触前和欧洲接触前样本的五种古代梅毒螺旋体病原体的基因组序列整合在一起。。

In combination with dozens of modern T. pallidum genomes, the data pointed to the early American presence of the T. pallidum lineages T. pallidum pallidum, T. pallidum pertenue, and T. pallidum endemicum, which are linked to syphilis, jaws, and bejel, respectively.

结合数十个现代苍白球绦虫基因组，数据表明美国早期存在苍白球绦虫谱系苍白球绦虫，苍白球绦虫pertenue和苍白球地方病，它们分别与梅毒，jaws和bejel有关。

'We see extinct sister lineages for all known forms of this disease family, which means syphilis, yaws, and bejel are the modern legacies of pathogens that once circulated in the Americas,' co-first author Rodrigo Barquera, a postdoctoral researcher with the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, said in a statement..

马克斯·普朗克进化人类学研究所博士后研究员、第一作者之一罗德里戈·巴奎拉在一份声明中说：“我们看到这种疾病家族所有已知形式的姐妹谱系都灭绝了，这意味着梅毒、雅司病和贝杰尔是曾经在美洲传播的病原体的现代遗产。”。。

Based on the genetic patterns present in the ancient American T. pallidum isolates, the investigators estimated that the most recent common ancestor for existing T. pallidum lineages goes back more than 5,000 years, though further research is needed to determine whether it arose in the Americas or arrived with early inhabitants..

根据古代美国梅毒螺旋体分离株中存在的遗传模式，研究人员估计，现有梅毒螺旋体谱系的最新共同祖先可以追溯到5000多年前，尽管需要进一步研究以确定它是起源于美洲还是与早期居民一起到达。。

'Given the rarity of cases recovered from our screening, DNA alone may not permit reconstruction of the treponemal historical narrative to the satisfaction of all discussants,' the authors wrote. 'While we anticipate tangible contributions from molecular data in the coming years, debates are likely to continue based on balanced review of the available evidence.'.

虽然我们预计未来几年分子数据会做出切实的贡献，但基于对现有证据的平衡审查，辩论可能会继续。”。