terclim by ICS banner
IVES 9 IVES Conference Series 9 International Congress on Grapevine and Wine Sciences 9 2ICGWS-2023 9 Reconstructing ancient microbial fermentation genomes from the wine residues of Herod, Roman king of Judea

Reconstructing ancient microbial fermentation genomes from the wine residues of Herod, Roman king of Judea

Abstract

The fortress of the Herodium, built towards the end of the first century BCE/ante Cristo, on the orders of Herod the Great, Roman client king of Judea, attests the expansion of Roman influence in the eastern Mediterranean. During archaeological excavations of the Herodium in 2017[1], a winery was discovered on the ground floor of the palace, with an assortment of clay vessels in situ, including large dolia – clay fermentation vessels each capable of fermenting up to 300-400 L of wine. Thanks to the recent progresses in the field of paleogenomics[2], we could analyse the organic material consistent with grape pomace at the bottom of these vessels, by extracting and sequencing the DNA using shotgun metagenomics and targeted capture, aiming for enrichment of DNA from fermentation associated microbes. After controlling for environmental and modern contamination, we successfully reconstructed and analysed the high-quality metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs) from a phylogenetic and functional perspective. The phylogenetic signal of these ancient fermentation bacteria confirmed both their ancient origin and their affiliation to bacteria associated with wine fermentation. Gene functional analysis of the reconstructed fermentation-associated MAGs revealed an assortment of genes typically expected in lactic acid bacteria involved in wine fermentation, as well as genes involved in the production of wine spoilage compounds, especially in species typically viewed today as less desirable bacteria. Overall, our analysis brings a new appreciation of winemaking in Roman Judea and enriches our understanding of Roman accounts of flavouring wine with different herbs and aromatics, which may have been performed in part to mask the off-flavour compounds produced by bacterial wine spoilage genes.

Acknowledgements:

Werner Siemens Foundation (PALEOBIOTECHNOLOGY, funding M.B. and C.W.) and Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (Balance of the Microverse, EXC 2051 #390713860, funding M.B. and C.W.)

References:

  1. Porat, R., Kalman, Y., Chachy, R., terem, shulamit, Bar-Natan, R., Ecker, A., Ben-Gedalya, T., Drori, E., & Weiss, E. (2018). Herod’s Royal Winery and Wine Storage Facility in the Outer Structure of the Mountain Palace-Fortress at Herodium. Qadmoniot (156, 106–1)
  2. Orlando, L., Allaby, R., Skoglund, P., Der Sarkissian, C., Stockhammer, P. W., Ávila-Arcos, M. C., Fu, Q., Krause, J., Willerslev, E., Stone, A. C., & Warinner, C. (2021). Ancient DNA analysis. Nature Reviews Methods Primers, 1(1), 14, DOI 10.1038/s43586-020-00011-0

DOI:

Publication date: October 3, 2023

Issue: ICGWS 2023

Type: Article

Authors

Maxime Borry1,2, Tziona Ben Gedalya3, Herodion Expedition4, Alexander Herbig1, Christina Warinner1,5,6

1Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
2Leibniz Institute for Natural Product Research and Infection Biology, Hans Knöll Institute, Jena, Germany
3Eastern R&D Center, Ariel University, Ariel, Israel
4Hebrew University
5Faculty of Biological Sciences, Friedrich-Schiller University, Jena, Germany
6Department of Anthropology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA

Contact the author*

Keywords

roman, herod, judea, paleogenomics, metagenomics, genome, bacteria, ancient DNA

Tags

2ICGWS | ICGWS | ICGWS 2023 | IVES Conference Series

Citation

Related articles…

Evaluation of interception traps for capture of Xylotrechus arvicola (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) in vineyards varieties from Protected Denomination of Origin León

Xylotrechus arvicola (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) is a pest in vineyards (Vitis vinifera) in the main Spain wine-producing regions with Protected Denomination of Origin (PDO). The action of the larvae, associated to the spreading of wood fungi, causes damage especially in important varieties of V. vinifera. X. arvicola females lay eggs concentrated in cracks or under the rhytidome in the wood vines, which allows the emerging larvae to get into the wood and make galleries inside the plant being then necessary to prune intensively or to pull up the bored plants (1). The objective of the study was to evaluate captures of X. arvicola insects in five varieties of V. vinifera in PDO León.

Read More

Energy partitioning and functionality of photosystem II in water-stressed grapevines during heatwaves revealed by continuous measurements of chlorophyll fluorescence

The increased intensity and frequency of heatwaves, coupled with prolonged periods of drought, are a significant threat to viticulture worldwide. During these conditions the more exposed leaves can show visible symptoms of heat damage. We monitored the functionality of photosystem II (PSII) in the field to better understand the impact of heatwaves on canopy performance. A factorial experiment was established in summer 2023 using Shiraz grapevines in the Barossa valley of South Australia, involving water-stressed and well-watered vines.

Read More

Aromatic characterization of Moscato Giallo by GC-MS/MS and stable isotopic ratio analysis of the major volatile compounds

Among the Moscato grapes, Moscato Giallo is a winegrape variety characterized by a high content of free and glycosylated monoterpenoids, which gives very aromatic wines. The aromatic bouquet of Moscato Giallo is strongly influenced by the high concentration of linalool, geraniol, linalool oxides, limonene, α-terpineol, citronellol, HO-trienol, HO-diols, 8-Hydroxylinalool, geranic acid and β-myrcene, that give citrus, rose, and peach notes.

Read More

Polyphenol content of cork granulates at different steps of the manufacturing process of microagglomerated stoppers treated with supercritical CO2 used for wine bottling

The wine closure industry is mainly divided into three categories: screw caps, synthetic closures, and cork-based closures. Among this latter, microagglomerated cork stoppers treated with supercritical CO2 are now widely used, especially to avoid cork taint contaminations[1]. They are designed with cork granules obtained from cork offcuts of the punching process during the natural cork stoppers production. A previous study[2] showed that these stoppers released fewer polyphenols in 12 % (v/v) hydroalcoholic solution than natural cork stoppers.

Read More

Grapevine cane pruning extract enhances plant physiological capacities and decreases phenolic accumulation in canes and leaves 

Vine cane extracts are a valuable byproduct due to their rich content of polyphenols, vitamins, and other beneficial compounds, which can affect and benefit the vine and the grapes. This study aims to evaluate the response of grapevine plants to irrigation with water supplemented with a vine cane extract, both at physiology response and phenolic composition in different parts of the plant (root, trunk, shoot, leaf, and berry).
Cane extract was obtained by macerating crushed pruning residues with warm water (5:1) and pectolytic enzymes. Two-year-old potted plants were irrigated with water (Control) while others were irrigated with cane extracts, either at 1:4 (w/v, cane extract/water; T 1:4) or at 1:8 (w/v, cane extract/water; T 1:8).

Read More