Biocodicology, a term coined by Sarah Fiddyment in 2019, is an emerging field which studies the biological information stored in Codex (parchment manuscripts): the microbiome, fungi and/or bacteria species that colonise the surface of the artefacts and the animal species used for the production of the parchment. The correct identification of these organisms allows us to intervene with a correct restoration/consolidation methodology, or can give us more information about the material. The methods commonly used in this field are culture-dependent or culture- independent methodology to identify the microbiome, and for the animal species, visual evaluation, protein content, or DNA sequencing with Illumina Technology due to the fact that the animal’s DNA is usually short and degraded. This work aims to find an alternative strategy to obtain DNA information from parchment manuscripts through a methodology that combines non-target Whole Genome Amplification (WGA), and DNA sequencing with Oxford Nanopore Technologis. Several parchments, from the present day to the 15th century, some of them from the Graphic Collection of the Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna, were analysed. Small pieces of the parchments were subjected to DNA extraction followed by Whole Genome Amplification (WGA) and sequencing with the device MinION (MK1C) from Oxford Nanopore Technologies using the new Flow Cells (R.10) and the new Short Fragment Mode (SFM). The bioinformatic results show that the parchment microbiomes are composed of typical human skin flora, with bacteria belonging to species of the genera Acinetobacter, Moraxella and Staphylococcus as well as fungi (i.e. genus Malassezia). More importantly results enable the identification of the animal species used for the parchment in any analysed case, showing for the first time the potential of WGA and Nanopore sequencing in the field of biocodicology, for the identification not just for fungi and bacteria, but also for short degraded DNA in parchment.
Nanopore sequencing for Biocodicology: a new strategy to study DNA in parchment material / Vassallo, Y.; Waldherr, M.; Lehner, E.; Graf, A.; Cappa, F.; Hartl, A.; Schober, R.; Beccaccioli, M.; Reverberi, M.; Sterflinger, K.; Piñar, G.. - (2024). (Intervento presentato al convegno Workshop Omics & Heritage tenutosi a Roma, Italia).
Nanopore sequencing for Biocodicology: a new strategy to study DNA in parchment material
Vassallo Y.
Primo
Conceptualization
;Beccaccioli M.Supervision
;Reverberi M.Supervision
;
2024
Abstract
Biocodicology, a term coined by Sarah Fiddyment in 2019, is an emerging field which studies the biological information stored in Codex (parchment manuscripts): the microbiome, fungi and/or bacteria species that colonise the surface of the artefacts and the animal species used for the production of the parchment. The correct identification of these organisms allows us to intervene with a correct restoration/consolidation methodology, or can give us more information about the material. The methods commonly used in this field are culture-dependent or culture- independent methodology to identify the microbiome, and for the animal species, visual evaluation, protein content, or DNA sequencing with Illumina Technology due to the fact that the animal’s DNA is usually short and degraded. This work aims to find an alternative strategy to obtain DNA information from parchment manuscripts through a methodology that combines non-target Whole Genome Amplification (WGA), and DNA sequencing with Oxford Nanopore Technologis. Several parchments, from the present day to the 15th century, some of them from the Graphic Collection of the Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna, were analysed. Small pieces of the parchments were subjected to DNA extraction followed by Whole Genome Amplification (WGA) and sequencing with the device MinION (MK1C) from Oxford Nanopore Technologies using the new Flow Cells (R.10) and the new Short Fragment Mode (SFM). The bioinformatic results show that the parchment microbiomes are composed of typical human skin flora, with bacteria belonging to species of the genera Acinetobacter, Moraxella and Staphylococcus as well as fungi (i.e. genus Malassezia). More importantly results enable the identification of the animal species used for the parchment in any analysed case, showing for the first time the potential of WGA and Nanopore sequencing in the field of biocodicology, for the identification not just for fungi and bacteria, but also for short degraded DNA in parchment.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
