| Title: |
Tracing 2500 years of human betaherpesvirus 6A and 6B diversity through ancient DNA |
| Authors: |
Guellil, Meriam; van Dorp, Lucy; Saag, Lehti; Beneker, Owyn; Bonucci, Biancamaria; Sasso, Stefania; Saupe, Tina; Solnik, Anu; Kabral, Helja; Allmäe, Raili; Bates, Jessica; Dittmar, Jenna M.; Ge, Xiangyu Jack; Inskip, Sarah; Jonuks, Tõnno; Karmanov, Victor N.; Khartanovich, Valeri I.; Larmuseau, Maarten H. D.; Aneli, Serena; Cessford, Craig; Kriiska, Aivar; Mägi, Marika; Malve, Martin; De Winter, Natasja; Metspalu, Mait; Pagani, Luca; Robb, John E.; Kivisild, Toomas; Houldcroft, Charlotte J.; Scheib, Christiana L.; Tambets, Kristiina |
| Contributors: |
Guellil, Meriam; Van Dorp, Lucy; Saag, Lehti; Beneker, Owyn; Bonucci, Biancamaria; Sasso, Stefania; Saupe, Tina; Solnik, Anu; Kabral, Helja; Allmäe, Raili; Bates, Jessica; Dittmar, Jenna M.; Ge, Xiangyu Jack; Inskip, Sarah; Jonuks, Tõnno; Karmanov, Victor N.; Khartanovich, Valeri I.; Larmuseau, Maarten H. D.; Aneli, Serena; Cessford, Craig; Kriiska, Aivar; Mägi, Marika; Malve, Martin; De Winter, Natasja; Metspalu, Mait; Pagani, Luca; Robb, John E.; Kivisild, Tooma; Houldcroft, Charlotte J.; Scheib, Christiana L.; Tambets, Kristiina |
| Publication Year: |
2026 |
| Collection: |
Padua Research Archive (IRIS - Università degli Studi di Padova) |
| Description: |
Human betaherpesviruses 6A and 6B (HHV-6A/6B) are DNA viruses, which integrate into the human genome, and are best known to cause "sixth disease." Despite their recent discovery (1980s), they were speculated to have a much longer history within the human population than modern data suggest. We present the first 11 ancient genomes of HHV-6A and HHV-6B, dating as far back as the 8th to 6th century BCE. We demonstrate that large fractions of current HHV-6 diversity were already established by the 14th century CE. Our data corroborate that HHV-6A/6B integrations stem from ancient founder events. In addition, we show that all known inherited chromosomally integrated HHV-6A clades were already represented in historical populations, confirming that HHV-6A no longer integrates into the germ line within populations of European ancestry and likely endogenized in early human history. |
| Document Type: |
article in journal/newspaper |
| Language: |
English |
| Relation: |
info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/pmid/41481721; volume:12; issue:1; journal:SCIENCE ADVANCES; https://hdl.handle.net/11577/3572301 |
| DOI: |
10.1126/sciadv.adx5460 |
| Availability: |
https://hdl.handle.net/11577/3572301; https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adx5460 |
| Rights: |
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess ; license:Creative commons ; license uri:http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
| Accession Number: |
edsbas.3EB6B258 |
| Database: |
BASE |