A new era in palaeomicrobiology: prospects for ancient dental calculus as a long-term record of the human oral microbiome
The field of palaeomicrobiology is dramatically expanding thanks to recent advances in high-throughput biomolecular sequencing, which allows unprecedented access to the evolutionary history and ecology of human-associated and environmental microbes. Recently, human dental calculus has been shown to...
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Published in | Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B. Biological sciences Vol. 370; no. 1660; p. 20130376 |
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Main Authors | , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
England
The Royal Society
19.01.2015
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Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | The field of palaeomicrobiology is dramatically expanding thanks to recent advances in high-throughput biomolecular sequencing, which allows unprecedented access to the evolutionary history and ecology of human-associated and environmental microbes. Recently, human dental calculus has been shown to be an abundant, nearly ubiquitous, and long-term reservoir of the ancient oral microbiome, preserving not only microbial and host biomolecules but also dietary and environmental debris. Modern investigations of native human microbiota have demonstrated that the human microbiome plays a central role in health and chronic disease, raising questions about changes in microbial ecology, diversity and function through time. This paper explores the current state of ancient oral microbiome research and discusses successful applications, methodological challenges and future possibilities in elucidating the intimate evolutionary relationship between humans and their microbes. |
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Bibliography: | Discussion meeting issue ‘Ancient DNA: the first three decades’ organized and edited by Erika Hagelberg, Michael Hofreiter and Christine Keyser ObjectType-Article-2 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-3 content type line 23 ObjectType-Review-1 ObjectType-Article-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 One contribution of 19 to a discussion meeting issue ‘Ancient DNA: the first three decades’. |
ISSN: | 0962-8436 1471-2970 |
DOI: | 10.1098/rstb.2013.0376 |