Department of Anthropology, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH, USA.
The Anson Street African Burial Ground Project, Mount Pleasant, SC, USA.
Commun Biol. 2024 Sep 28;7(1):1213. doi: 10.1038/s42003-024-06893-0.
As part of the Anson Street African Burial Ground Project, we characterized the oral microbiomes of twelve 18th century African-descended individuals (Ancestors) from Charleston, South Carolina, USA, to study their oral health and diet. We found that their oral microbiome composition resembled that of other historic (18th-19th century) dental calculus samples but differed from that of modern samples, and was not influenced by indicators of oral health and wear observed in the dentition. Phylogenetic analysis of the oral bacteria, Tannerella forsythia and Pseudoramibacter alactolyticus, revealed varied patterns of lineage diversity and replacement in the Americas, with the Ancestors carrying strains similar to historic period Europeans and Africans. Functional profiling of metabolic pathways suggested that the Ancestors consumed a diet low in animal protein. Overall, our study reveals important insights into the oral microbial histories of African-descended individuals, particularly oral health and diet in colonial North American enslavement contexts.
作为安森街非裔埋骨地项目的一部分，我们对来自美国南卡罗来纳州查尔斯顿的 12 位 18 世纪非洲裔个体（祖先）的口腔微生物组进行了特征描述，以研究他们的口腔健康和饮食。我们发现，他们的口腔微生物组组成与其他历史时期（18-19 世纪）的牙石样本相似，但与现代样本不同，而且不受牙齿中观察到的口腔健康和磨损指标的影响。口腔细菌坦纳氏菌和假拟放线杆菌的系统发育分析显示，美洲的谱系多样性和替代模式各不相同，祖先携带的菌株与历史时期的欧洲人和非洲人相似。代谢途径的功能分析表明，祖先的饮食中动物蛋白含量较低。总的来说，我们的研究揭示了有关非洲裔个体口腔微生物历史的重要信息，特别是在北美殖民时期奴役背景下的口腔健康和饮食。
