Ancient microbial natural products reconstructed from Neanderthal dental plaques

 Using dental calculus from Neanderthals and palaeolithic humans, researchers have reconstructed ancient microbial genes and engineered modern bacteria to produce their previously unknown metabolites. The approach will allow natural product researchers to ‘add a new dimension and go back in time’ according to bioorganic chemist Pierre Stallforth from the Hans Knöll Institute in Jena, Germany, who led the project.

Microbial metabolites play essential biological roles, but their chemical breakdown over time makes it difficult to study those from ancient sources. Now, Stallforth’s team has used palaeogenomic techniques to reconstruct ancient microbial genomes and resurrect their biosynthetic pathways. With this approach, researchers can access previously hidden structural and functional diversity and learn about the environments the microbes inhabited.