| NSF Org: |
BCS Division of Behavioral and Cognitive Sciences |
| Recipient: |
|
| Initial Amendment Date: | July 24, 2017 |
| Latest Amendment Date: | July 24, 2017 |
| Award Number: | 1732263 |
| Award Instrument: | Standard Grant |
| Program Manager: |
Rebecca Ferrell
rferrell@nsf.gov (703)292-7850 BCS Division of Behavioral and Cognitive Sciences SBE Directorate for Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences |
| Start Date: | August 1, 2017 |
| End Date: | July 31, 2019 (Estimated) |
| Total Intended Award Amount: | $31,701.00 |
| Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $31,701.00 |
| Funds Obligated to Date: |
|
| History of Investigator: |
|
| Recipient Sponsored Research Office: |
506 S WRIGHT ST URBANA IL US 61801-3620 (217)333-2187 |
| Sponsor Congressional District: |
|
| Primary Place of Performance: |
607 S. Mathews Ave Urbana IL US 61820-7473 |
| Primary Place of
Performance Congressional District: |
|
| Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): |
|
| Parent UEI: |
|
| NSF Program(s): | Bio Anthro DDRI |
| Primary Program Source: |
|
| Program Reference Code(s): |
|
| Program Element Code(s): |
|
| Award Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Fund Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Assistance Listing Number(s): | 47.075 |
ABSTRACT
Several significant periods in human biological and cultural evolution have been correlated with changes in diet. The oral microbiome, communities of bacteria living in the human mouth, can also be influenced by individual diet and may be another indication of how human evolution has been shaped by dietary transitions. This project examines the link between human diet and the oral microbiome by collaborating with an indigenous community who have lived along the Northwest Coast of North America for over 6,000 years. This collaboration will allow the researchers to reconstruct the oral microbiome of an ancient community adapted to a predominantly marine diet, and assess how significant social and cultural transitions associated with dietary changes, such as European colonization, may have influenced the oral microbiome. The research will inform our understanding of the relationship between human evolutionary history and modern human experiences, such as the health disparities documented in many indigenous communities of North America. This project will also incorporate community-based projects like the development of an Ancestor "House" room to respectfully store indigenous human remains awaiting laboratory analysis.
This project draws on both Western science research methods and indigenous community knowledge and oral history. The researchers will first reconstruct the diet and oral microbiome of the ancestral indigenous community using a combination of cutting edge ancient DNA sequencing methods, stable isotope analysis, and oral history. Prior to European contact, this ancient community underwent a period of increasing social complexity, transitioning to villages with large, stratified, lineage-based, multigenerational households, which likely controlled local food resources. In non-egalitarian communities like this, there are often individual status differences. This research will assess how increased status differentiation and social complexity influenced individual diet and access to food resources, and how the bacteria in the oral cavity responded to these changes. The diet and oral microbiome of this ancient community will then be compared to similar data from the living descendant community to assess how their current diet may be different from that of their ancestors, as a result of European colonization and the introduction of Western industrialized processed foods, and to understand if this change has influenced the bacterial composition of the oral microbiome. This research will provide a novel approach to understanding the biological consequences of European colonization.
PUBLICATIONS PRODUCED AS A RESULT OF THIS RESEARCH
Note:
When clicking on a Digital Object Identifier (DOI) number, you will be taken to an external
site maintained by the publisher. Some full text articles may not yet be available without a
charge during the embargo (administrative interval).
Some links on this page may take you to non-federal websites. Their policies may differ from
this site.
PROJECT OUTCOMES REPORT
Disclaimer
This Project Outcomes Report for the General Public is displayed verbatim as submitted by the Principal Investigator (PI) for this award. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this Report are those of the PI and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation; NSF has not approved or endorsed its content.
Over the past 6,000 years, the Coast Tsimshian experienced two significant periods of social transition: increasing social complexity during the transition from the Middle Pacific Period (3500-1500BP) to the Late Pacific Period (1500-500BP) and 19th century European contact with subsequent ongoing colonization and increasing industrialization. This project integrated genomic, isotopic, and osteological data with community-held knowledge from the descendant Metlakatla First Nation to investigate the relationship of these periods of sociocultural transition to diet and the composition of the oral microbiome within the ancestral and descendant Coast Tsimshian communities of British Columbia, Canada. In doing so, the study provided a much-needed characterization of the oral microbiome of an ancestral fisher-hunter-gatherer community, as well as a more comprehensive understanding of the evolutionary history of the human oral micorbiome in relation to the effects of European colonization on Indigenous peoples in North America.
Ancient DNA was successfully extracted and sequenced from the dental calculus of 45 Coast Tsimshian Ancestors who were previously excavated from two village sites near what is now Prince Rupert, British Columbia, Canada. The genomic sequence data from each Ancestor was analyzed for both ancient microbial DNA from the oral microbiome and ancient plant and animal DNA indicative of the individual's diet. Analyses to date of this genomic sequence data have identified several salmonid species in the diet of the ancestral community. Dietary change through time, between the ancestral and descendant Coast Tsimshian communities, was assessed using paired analyses of collagen from Ancestors' tooth root dentine and keratin from hair samples provided by descendant participants. DNA from oral gumline swabs of 17 descendant community participants was sequenced to compare to the Ancestors' oral microbiome data.
Existing research on the impact of dietary changes associated with industrialization on the human oral microbiome relies largely on comparisons of genetically unrelated communities, overlooking the possible effects of local evolutionary adaptive processes on the composition and function of the oral microbiome. The results of this innovative Ancestor-descendant comparison, made possible through a collaborative research relationship with the Metlakatla First Nation, suggest the microbiome of the ancestral Coast Tsimshian community, developed in assocation with a high-protein fisher-hunter-gatherer lifestyle, has been retained within the descendant community. The bacterial phyla Actinobacteria dominates the oral microbiome of both the ancestral and descendant communities, despite the reduced proportion of high-trophic marine protein measured in the diet of descendant community members. These findings highlight the potential role of traditional foods in suporting the biological resilience of Indigenous communities, as well as the importance of considering human oral microbiome research within local evolutionary contexts.
The project contributed to the training of a female Alaska Native scientist in molecular biology and genomic laboratory techniques, bioinformatics, statistical analyses, and community-based research methods.
Last Modified: 11/29/2019
Modified by: Ripan S Malhi
Please report errors in award information by writing to: awardsearch@nsf.gov.
