Simon Lukas M, Flocco Cecilia, Burkart Franziska, Methner Anika, Henke David, Rauer Luise, Müller Christian L, Vogel Johannes, Quaisser Christiane, Overmann Jörg, Simon Stefan
Therapeutic Innovation Center, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA.
Department of Microbial Ecology and Diversity Research, Leibniz-Institute DSMZ-German Collection of Microorganisms and Cell Cultures, 38124 Braunschweig, Germany.
iScience. 2023 Aug 9;26(9):107578. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2023.107578. eCollection 2023 Sep 15.
Microbial communities reside at the interface between humans and their environment. Whether the microbiome can be leveraged to gain information on human interaction with museum objects is unclear. To investigate this, we selected objects from the Museum für Naturkunde and the Pergamonmuseum in Berlin, Germany, varying in material and size. Using swabs, we collected 126 samples from natural and cultural heritage objects, which were analyzed through 16S rRNA sequencing. By comparing the microbial composition of touched and untouched objects, we identified a microbial signature associated with human skin microbes. Applying this signature to cultural heritage objects, we identified areas with varying degrees of exposure to human contact on the Ishtar gate and Sam'al gate lions. Furthermore, we differentiated objects touched by two different individuals. Our findings demonstrate that the microbiome of museum objects provides insights into the level of human contact, crucial for conservation, heritage science, and potentially provenance research.
微生物群落存在于人类与其环境的界面处。微生物组能否被用来获取有关人类与博物馆物品互动的信息尚不清楚。为了对此进行研究，我们从德国柏林的自然博物馆和佩加蒙博物馆挑选了材料和尺寸各异的物品。我们用拭子从自然和文化遗产物品上采集了126个样本，并通过16S rRNA测序进行分析。通过比较被触摸和未被触摸物品的微生物组成，我们确定了一种与人类皮肤微生物相关的微生物特征。将此特征应用于文化遗产物品，我们在伊什塔尔门和萨马尔门狮子雕像上识别出了不同程度接触人类的区域。此外，我们还区分了被两个不同个体触摸过的物品。我们的研究结果表明，博物馆物品的微生物组能为人类接触程度提供见解，这对文物保护、遗产科学以及潜在的出处研究至关重要。
