Dental Calculus as a Tool to Study the Evolution of the Mammalian Oral Microbiome.

ABSTRACT: Dental calculus, the calcified form of the mammalian oral microbial plaque biofilm, is a rich source of oral microbiome, host, and dietary biomolecules and is well preserved in museum and archaeological specimens. Despite its wide presence in mammals, to date, dental calculus has primarily been used to study primate microbiome evolution. We establish dental calculus as a valuable tool for the study of nonhuman host microbiome evolution, by using shotgun metagenomics to characterize the taxonomic and functional composition of the oral microbiome in species as diverse as gorillas, bears, and reindeer. We detect oral pathogens in individuals with evidence of oral disease, assemble near-complete bacterial genomes from historical specimens, characterize antibiotic resistance genes, reconstruct

SUBMITTER: Brealey JC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7530607 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature