Microbial fingerprints reveal interaction between museum objects, curators, and visitors
Lukas M. Simon,
Cecilia Flocco,
Franziska Burkart,
Anika Methner,
David Henke,
Luise Rauer,
Christian L. Müller,
Johannes Vogel,
Christiane Quaisser,
Jörg Overmann,
Stefan Simon
Affiliations
Lukas M. Simon
Therapeutic Innovation Center, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA; Corresponding author
Cecilia Flocco
Department of Microbial Ecology and Diversity Research, Leibniz-Institute DSMZ-German Collection of Microorganisms and Cell Cultures, 38124 Braunschweig, Germany
Franziska Burkart
Department of Microbial Ecology and Diversity Research, Leibniz-Institute DSMZ-German Collection of Microorganisms and Cell Cultures, 38124 Braunschweig, Germany
Anika Methner
Department of Microbial Ecology and Diversity Research, Leibniz-Institute DSMZ-German Collection of Microorganisms and Cell Cultures, 38124 Braunschweig, Germany
David Henke
Molecular Virology & Microbiology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA
Luise Rauer
Environmental Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Augsburg, 86156 Augsburg, Germany; Institute of Environmental Medicine, Helmholtz Munich, German Research Center for Environmental Health, 86156 Augsburg, Germany; Institute of Computational Biology, Helmholtz Munich, German Research Center for Environmental Health, 85764 Neuherberg, Germany
Christian L. Müller
Institute of Computational Biology, Helmholtz Munich, German Research Center for Environmental Health, 85764 Neuherberg, Germany
Johannes Vogel
Museum für Naturkunde, Leibniz-Institut für Evolutions- und Biodiversitätsforschung, 10115 Berlin, Germany
Christiane Quaisser
Museum für Naturkunde, Leibniz-Institut für Evolutions- und Biodiversitätsforschung, 10115 Berlin, Germany
Jörg Overmann
Department of Microbial Ecology and Diversity Research, Leibniz-Institute DSMZ-German Collection of Microorganisms and Cell Cultures, 38124 Braunschweig, Germany
Stefan Simon
Rathgen-Forschungslabor, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin - Preußischer Kulturbesitz, 14059 Berlin, Germany; Corresponding author
Summary: 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.
