| Summary: | The main pathogenic factor of <i>Bacillus anthracis</i> is a three-component toxin encoded by the <i>pagA</i>, <i>lef</i>, and <i>cya</i> genes, which are located on the pXO1 plasmid. The <i>atxA</i> gene, which encodes the primary regulator of pathogenicity factor expression, is located on the same plasmid. In this work, we evaluated the polymorphism of the <i>pagA</i>, <i>lef</i>, <i>cya</i>, and <i>atxA</i> genes for 85 <i>B. anthracis</i> strains from different evolutionary lineages and canSNP groups. We have found a strong correlation of 19 genotypes with the main evolutionary lineages, but the correlation with the canSNP group of the strain was not as strong. We have detected several genetic markers indicating the geographical origin of the strains, for example, their source from the steppe zone of the former USSR. We also found that strains of the B.Br.001/002 group caused an anthrax epidemic in Russia in 2016 and strains isolated during paleontological excavations in the Russian Arctic have the same genotype as the strains of the B.Br.CNEVA group circulating in Central Europe. This data could testify in favor of the genetic relationship of these two groups of strains and hypothesize the ways of distribution of their ancestral forms between Europe and the Arctic.
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