{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,12]],"date-time":"2025-10-12T02:43:45Z","timestamp":1760237025884,"version":"build-2065373602"},"reference-count":24,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"2","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2020,2,21]],"date-time":"2020-02-21T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1582243200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Medical Biological Defense Research Program of the Bundeswehr Joint Medical Service","award":["no number"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["no number"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Microorganisms"],"abstract":"<jats:p>The bacterium Bacillus anthracis is the causative agent of the zoonotic disease anthrax. While genomics of extant B. anthracis isolates established in-depth phylogenomic relationships, there is scarce information on the historic genomics of the pathogen. Here, we characterized the oldest documented B. anthracis specimen. The inactive 142-year-old material originated from a bovine diseased in Chemnitz (Germany) in 1878 and is contemporary with the seminal studies of Robert Koch on B. anthracis. A specifically developed isolation method yielded high-quality DNA from this specimen for genomic sequencing. The bacterial chromosome featuring 242 unique base-characters placed it into a major phylogenetic clade of B. anthracis (B.Branch CNEVA), which is typical for central Europe today. Our results support the notion that the CNEVA-clade represents part of the indigenous genetic lineage of B. anthracis in this part of Europe. This work emphasizes the value of historic specimens as precious resources for reconstructing the past phylogeny of the anthrax pathogen.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/microorganisms8020298","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2020,2,21]],"date-time":"2020-02-21T10:49:16Z","timestamp":1582282156000},"page":"298","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":3,"title":["A Rare Glimpse into the Past of the Anthrax Pathogen Bacillus anthracis"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"8","author":[{"given":"Peter","family":"Braun","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Bundeswehr Institute of Microbiology (IMB), 80937 Munich, Germany"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Mandy","family":"Kn\u00fcpfer","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Bundeswehr Institute of Microbiology (IMB), 80937 Munich, Germany"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Markus","family":"Antwerpen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Bundeswehr Institute of Microbiology (IMB), 80937 Munich, Germany"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1980-3148","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Dagmar","family":"Triebel","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Bavarian Natural History Collections (SNSB\u2014Botanische Staatssammlung M\u00fcnchen), 80638 Munich, Germany"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Gregor","family":"Grass","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Bundeswehr Institute of Microbiology (IMB), 80937 Munich, Germany"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2020,2,21]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"295","DOI":"10.1016\/j.cell.2018.11.005","article-title":"Emergence and spread of basal lineages of Yersinia pestis during the Neolithic decline","volume":"176","author":"Rascovan","year":"2019","journal-title":"Cell"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Bennett, R.J., and Baker, K.S. 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