Integrative approach using novel Yersinia pestis genomes to revisit the historical landscape of plague during the Medieval Period

Over the last few years, genomic studies on Yersinia pestis, the causative agent of all known plague epidemics, have considerably increased in numbers, focusing on strains attributed to the second pandemic (14th-18th c.). We carried out a comprehensive revision of the current phylogeny of Y. pestis strains from recent isolates back to Bronze Age samples, spanning a period of about 5,000 years.