Titel
Metagenomic Analysis Reveals Presence of Treponema denticola in a Tissue Biopsy of the Iceman
Autor*in
Frank Maixner
Institute for Mummies and the Iceman, EURAC Research
Autor*in
Anton Thomma
Autor*in
Giovanna Cipollini
Institute for Mummies and the Iceman, EURAC Research
... show all
Abstract
Ancient hominoid genome studies can be regarded by definition as metagenomic analyses since they represent a mixture of both hominoid and microbial sequences in an environment. Here, we report the molecular detection of the oral spirochete Treponema denticola in ancient human tissue biopsies of the Iceman, a 5,300-year-old Copper Age natural ice mummy. Initially, the metagenomic data of the Iceman’s genomic survey was screened for bacterial ribosomal RNA (rRNA) specific reads. Through ranking the reads by abundance a relatively high number of rRNA reads most similar to T. denticola was detected. Mapping of the metagenome sequences against the T. denticola genome revealed additional reads most similar to this opportunistic pathogen. The DNA damage pattern of specifically mapped reads suggests an ancient origin of these sequences. The haematogenous spread of bacteria of the oral microbiome often reported in the recent literature could already explain the presence of metagenomic reads specific for T. denticola in the Iceman’s bone biopsy. We extended, however, our survey to an Iceman gingival tissue sample and a mouth swab sample and could thereby detect T. denticola and Porphyrimonas gingivalis, another important member of the human commensal oral microflora. Taken together, this study clearly underlines the opportunity to detect disease-associated microorganisms when applying metagenomics- enabled approaches on datasets of ancient human remains.
Stichwort
Ribosomal RNAOpportunistic pathogensGenomic databasesPaleogeneticsPolymerase chain reactionAncient DNAGenome analysisSequence alignment
Objekt-Typ
Sprache
Englisch [eng]
Persistent identifier
https://phaidra.univie.ac.at/o:471683
Erschienen in
Titel
PLoS ONE
Band
9
Ausgabe
6
Verlag
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Erscheinungsdatum
2014
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