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Yersinia pestis: Retrospective and Perspective pp 377–391Cite as

Perspectives on Yersinia pestis: A Model for Studying Zoonotic Pathogens

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Part of the book series: Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology ((AEMB,volume 918))

Abstract

Yersinia pestis is a typical zoonotic bacterial pathogen. The following reasons make this pathogen a model for studying zoonotic pathogens: (1) Its unique lifestyle makes Y. pestis an ideal model for studying host–vector–environment–pathogen interactions; (2) population diversity characters in Y. pestis render it a model species for studying monomorphic bacterial evolution; (3) the pathogenic features of bacteria provide us with good opportunities to study human immune responses; (4) typical animal and vector models of Y. pestis infection create opportunities for experimental studies on pathogenesis and evolution; and (5) repeated pandemics and local outbreaks provide us with clues about the infectious disease outbreaks that have occurred in human history.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Dr. Guangwei Liu from Beijing Normal University for his helpful discussion on this chapter.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Beijing Institute of Microbiology and Epidemiology, No. 20, Dongdajie, Fengtai, Beijing, 100071, China

    Ruifu Yang, Yujun Cui & Yujing Bi

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  1. Ruifu Yang
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  2. Yujun Cui
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Correspondence to Ruifu Yang .

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  1. Beijing Institute of Microbiology and Epidemiology, Beijing, China

    Ruifu Yang

  2. State Research Center for Applied Microbiology, Moscow Region, Russia

    Andrey Anisimov

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Yang, R., Cui, Y., Bi, Y. (2016). Perspectives on Yersinia pestis: A Model for Studying Zoonotic Pathogens. In: Yang, R., Anisimov, A. (eds) Yersinia pestis: Retrospective and Perspective. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology, vol 918. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-024-0890-4_14

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