Understanding the microbial biogeography of ancient human dentitions to guide study design and interpretation
AbstractThe oral cavity is a heterogeneous environment, varying in factors such as pH, oxygen levels, and salivary flow. These factors affect the microbial community composition and distribution of species in dental plaque, but it is not known how well these patterns are reflected in archaeological dental calculus. In most archaeological studies, a single sample of dental calculus is studied per individual and is assumed to represent the entire oral cavity. However, it is not known if this sampling strategy introduces biases into studies of the ancient oral microbiome. Here, we present the results of a shotgun metagenomic study of a dense sampling of dental calculus from four Chalcolithic i…
Understanding the microbial biogeography of ancient human dentitions to guide study design and interpretation
©. This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY 4.0 license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This document is the Published manuscript version of a Published Work that appeared in final form in FEMS Microbes. To access the final edited and published work see DOI: 10.1093/femsmc/xtac006 The oral cavity is a heterogeneous environment, varying in factors such as pH, oxygen levels, and salivary flow. These factors affect the microbial community composition and distribution of species in dental plaque, but it is not known how well these patterns are reflected in archaeological dental calculus. In most archaeological studies, a single sample of dental calculus is studied p…