Biology subjects

Signoli, M.

Publications and source records attributed to Signoli, M..

3 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2025

Paratyphoid Fever and Relapsing Fever in 1812 Napoleon's Devastated Army

During Napoleons retreat from Russia in 18121, countless soldiers of the French army succumbed to infectious diseases, but the responsible pathogen or pathogens remain debated2-5. We recovered and sequenced ancient DNA from the teeth of 13 soldiers who, based on historical records, likely died from infectious diseases, aiming to identify the pathogens responsible for their deaths6. Our results confirmed the presence of Salmonella enterica subsp enterica belonging to the lineage Para C, the causative agent of paratyphoid fever7 ; and Borrelia recurrentis, responsible for relapsing fever transmitted by body lice8. We were not able to detect Rickettsia prowazekii (the agent of typhus) and Bartonella quintana (the cause of trench fever), which had previously been associated with this deadly event, based on PCR results and historical symptom descriptions3. The presence of these previously unsuspected pathogens in these soldiers reveals that they could have contributed to the devastation of Napoleons Grande Armee during its disastrous retreat in 1812. HighlightsO_LIGenetic evidence of S. Paratyphi C and B. recurrentis in Napoleonic soldiers C_LIO_LIPhylogeny-driven authentication workflow for ultra-low-coverage pathogen aDNA C_LIO_LIHistorical descriptions of Napoleons army illness match paratyphoid fever symptoms C_LIO_LIMultiple infections likely contributed to the collapse of Napoleons 1812 campaign C_LI

microbiology↗

bioRxiv2025

A minimal hybridization capture system for the parallel enrichment and cost-effective detection of ancient human pathogens

The preservation of ancient DNA in archaeological remains enables identification of past disease agents. However, pathogen DNA is typically highly diluted by host and environmental DNA, limiting detection. Here, we present a proof-of-concept study using in-solution hybridization capture to improve detectability of a pre-defined set of 12 pathogens. We validate the method by detecting Yersinia pestis, the plague agent, in six individuals from 17th and 18th century French plague cemeteries with minimal sequencing. Expanding our probe set to target biomarkers of virtually any pathogen of interest offers a powerful tool for tracking the prevalence of infectious diseases in ancient populations.

molecular biology↗

bioRxiv2021

Unbiased lexicometry analyses illuminate plague dynamics during the second pandemic

Knowledge of the second plague pandemic that swept over Europe during the 14th-19th centuries, mainly relies on the exegesis of contemporary texts, prone to interpretive bias. Leveraging bioinformatic tools routinely used in biology, we here developed a quantitative lexicography of 32 texts describing two major plague outbreaks using contemporary plague-unrelated texts as negative controls. Nested, network and category analyses of a 207-word pan-lexicome over-represented in plague-related texts, indicated that "buboes" and "carbuncles" words were significantly associated with plague, signaling ectoparasite- borne plague. Moreover, plague-related words were associated with the words "merchandise", "movable", "tatters", "bed" and "clothes", while no association was found with rats and fleas. These results support the hypothesis that during the second plague pandemic, human ectoparasites were the major drivers of plague. Analyzing ancient texts using here reported method would certify plague-related historical records and indicate particularities of each plague outbreak, including sources of the causative Yersinia pestis.

bioinformatics↗