About the Authors

Leo J. Kenefic

Contributed equally to this work with: Leo J. Kenefic, Talima Pearson

Affiliation Department of Biological Sciences, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, Arizona, United States of America

Talima Pearson

Contributed equally to this work with: Leo J. Kenefic, Talima Pearson

Affiliation Department of Biological Sciences, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, Arizona, United States of America

Richard T. Okinaka

Affiliation Department of Biological Sciences, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, Arizona, United States of America

James M. Schupp

Affiliation Department of Biological Sciences, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, Arizona, United States of America

David M. Wagner

Affiliation Department of Biological Sciences, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, Arizona, United States of America

Jacques Ravel

Affiliation The Institute for Genome Sciences, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, United States of America

Alex R. Hoffmaster

Affiliation Bacterial Zoonoses Branch, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America

Carla P. Trim

Affiliation Department of Biological Sciences, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, Arizona, United States of America

Wai-Kwan Chung

Affiliation Department of Biological Sciences, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, Arizona, United States of America

Jodi A. Beaudry

Affiliation Department of Biological Sciences, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, Arizona, United States of America

Jeffrey T. Foster

Affiliation Department of Biological Sciences, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, Arizona, United States of America

James I. Mead

Affiliation Department of Biological Sciences, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, Arizona, United States of America

Paul Keim

Paul.Keim@nau.edu

Affiliations Department of Biological Sciences, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, Arizona, United States of America, Pathogen Genomics Division, Translational Genomics Research Institute, Phoenix, Arizona, United States of America

Competing Interests

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Author Contributions

Conceived and designed the experiments: LJK PK. Performed the experiments: LJK CPT JAB WKC. Analyzed the data: LJK TP CPT JAB WKC PK. Contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools: TP DMW JR AH. Wrote the paper: LJK TP JF JM PK. Directed the study and edited the manuscript: PK. Provided managerial support for data generation: JS. Provided GIS analysis: DMW. Developed the B. anthracis microarray genotyping assay and screened the initial (128) isolates: JR. Provided the DNA of isolates from an historical collection: AH. Provided valuable insights into phylogenetic analyses and helped edit the manuscript: RO JF. Provided insights into Beringian ecosystems: JM. Edited the manuscript: JM.