ArticlePloS one2014
Metagenomic analysis reveals presence of Treponema denticola in a tissue biopsy of the Iceman.
Article in PloS one, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 15 papers.
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Who cites it
15 citing papers in PubMed, 32 citations in OpenAlex.
- The Iceman's microbiome: unveiling millennia of microbial diversity and continuity.Microbiome · 2026Article
- Cost-effectiveness and other considerations for different research techniques applied in ancient DNA analysis.Anatomy & cell biology · 2025Review
- Oral SpirocheteInternational journal of molecular sciences · 2023Article
- Pros and cons of causative association between periodontitis and rheumatoid arthritis.Periodontology 2000 · 2022Review
- Microbial genomes from non-human primate gut metagenomes expand the primate-associated bacterial tree of life with over 1000 novel species.Genome biology · 2019Article
- Article
- A structure-derived snap-trap mechanism of a multispecific serpin from the dysbiotic human oral microbiome.The Journal of biological chemistry · 2017Article
- Structural insights unravel the zymogenic mechanism of the virulence factor gingipain K fromThe Journal of biological chemistry · 2017Article
- Paleoproteomics of the Dental Pulp: The plague paradigm.PloS one · 2017Article
- Transmission between Archaic and Modern Human Ancestors during the Evolution of the Oncogenic Human Papillomavirus 16.Molecular biology and evolution · 2017Article
- Structure of RagB, a major immunodominant outer-membrane surface receptor antigen of Porphyromonas gingivalis.Molecular oral microbiology · 2016Article
- Identification of proteins from 4200-year-old skin and muscle tissue biopsies from ancient Egyptian mummies of the first intermediate period shows evidence of acute inflammation and severe immune response.Philosophical transactions. Series A, Mathematical, physical, and engineering sciences · 2016Article
- Polymicrobial infection alter inflammatory microRNA in rat salivary glands during periodontal disease.Anaerobe · 2016Article
- Ancient pathogens in museal dry bone specimens: analysis of paleocytology and aDNA.Wiener medizinische Wochenschrift (1946) · 2015Article
- Structure and mechanism of cysteine peptidase gingipain K (Kgp), a major virulence factor of Porphyromonas gingivalis in periodontitis.The Journal of biological chemistry · 2014Article
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
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No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
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.
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