Rollo F, Luciani S, Canapa A, Marota I
Dipartimento di Biologia Molecolare, Cellulare e Animale, Università di Camerino, I-62032, Camerino, Italy.
Am J Phys Anthropol. 2000 Feb;111(2):211-9. doi: 10.1002/(SICI)1096-8644(200002)111:2<211::AID-AJPA7>3.0.CO;2-M.
About 80 sequences (16s ribosomal RNA gene) of bacterial DNA in samples of skin and muscle taken directly from the Tyrolean iceman (3350-3100 years B.C.) or recovered during the 1992 archaeological expedition at the Alpine site were analyzed to obtain clues to the natural mummification process that allowed the corpse of the Neolithic shepherd/hunter to be preserved for more than 5,000 years. The investigation was made more complex by the fact that the surface of the mummy had been swabbed with phenol soon after the discovery (September 19, 1991). Our results show that no trace of microbial DNA is left on the actual surface of the body, while the untreated skin still bears the remains of large numbers of bacteria belonging to the genera Sphingomonas, Afipia, Curtobacterium, Microbacterium, Agromyces, and others. Compared to the untreated skin, the iceman's muscle is also very rich in bacterial DNA. However, this DNA comes, with few exceptions, from the species Clostridium algidicarnis. The sharp difference in the bacterial DNA composition of skin and muscle suggests that the remains of the original cadaveric microflora of the latter have not disappeared during the iceman's taphonomic history. On the other hand, the massive presence of C. algidicarnis, a cold-adapted sporigenous, the DNA of which was previously (Ubaldi et al. [1998] Am. J. Phys. Anthropol. 107:285-295) found in the soft tissue of a naturally desiccated Andean mummy, indicates that the hypothesis that the iceman's corpse underwent rapid dehydration by the effect of a warm wind (föhn) is no longer plausible. The results best fit with the hypothesis (Bereuter et al. [1997] Chem. Eur. J. 7:1032-1038) that the body was first covered by snow and ice, and then underwent thawing and, finally, desiccation.
对直接取自蒂罗尔冰人（公元前3350 - 3100年）的皮肤和肌肉样本，或在1992年阿尔卑斯山遗址考古发掘过程中获取的样本中的约80个细菌DNA序列（16s核糖体RNA基因）进行了分析，以探寻使这位新石器时代牧羊人和猎人的尸体得以保存5000多年的自然木乃伊化过程的线索。该研究因在冰人发现后不久（1991年9月19日）其表面被苯酚擦拭这一事实而变得更加复杂。我们的结果表明，在尸体的实际表面未留下微生物DNA的痕迹，而未经处理的皮肤仍带有大量属于鞘氨醇单胞菌属、阿菲普菌属、短小杆菌属、微杆菌属、土壤杆菌属等细菌的残留物。与未经处理的皮肤相比，冰人的肌肉中细菌DNA也非常丰富。然而，除了少数例外，这些DNA来自耐冷产孢的嗜冷栖肉梭菌。皮肤和肌肉中细菌DNA组成的显著差异表明，后者原始尸体微生物群落的残留物在冰人的埋藏历史中并未消失。另一方面，嗜冷栖肉梭菌的大量存在，其DNA先前（乌巴尔迪等人[1998年]《美国体质人类学杂志》107:285 - 295）在一具自然风干的安第斯木乃伊的软组织中被发现，这表明冰人尸体因暖风（焚风）作用而迅速脱水的假设不再可信。这些结果与以下假设（贝罗伊特等人[1997年]《欧洲化学杂志》7:1032 - 1038）最为契合，即尸体首先被冰雪覆盖，然后经历解冻，最后干燥。
