Isolation and Characterization of Live Yeast Cells from Ancient Vessels as a Tool in Bio-Archaeology.

ABSTRACT: Ancient fermented food has been studied based on recipes, residue analysis, and ancient-DNA techniques and reconstructed using modern domesticated yeast. Here, we present a novel approach based on our hypothesis that enriched yeast populations in fermented beverages could have become the dominant species in storage vessels and their descendants could be isolated and studied today. We developed a pipeline of yeast isolation from clay vessels and screened for yeast cells in beverage-related and non-beverage-related ancient vessels and sediments from several archaeological sites. We found that yeast cells could be successfully isolated specifically from clay containers of fermented beverages. The findings that genotypically the isolated yeasts are similar to those found in traditional African

SUBMITTER: Aouizerat T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6495373 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature