174 | Mummified lung tissue as a microbiological archive: an integrated approach to investigate past pulmonary microbial communities in 18th-19th century Europe

Angela Mollica Nardo¹, David Harasser², Dario Piombino-Mascali^3|4 | ¹Life Sciences Center, Vilnius University, Vilnius, Lithuania; ²Institute for Mummy Studies, EURAC Research, Bolzano, Italy; ³Department of Anatomy, Histology, and Anthropology, Vilnius University, Vilnius, Lithuania; ⁴Department of Cultural Heritage, University of Salento, Lecce, Italy.

Abstract

Mummified human tissues represent a valuable biological resource for investigating past host–microbe interactions and long-term infectious disease dynamics, particularly in light of recent advances in ancient DNA and metagenomic approaches. Among these tissues, lung samples offer a unique opportunity to investigate historical respiratory-associated microbial communities and their preservation over time. In this study, we investigate the informative potential of mummified lung tissue as a microbiological archive by analyzing samples from two geographically and epidemiologically distinct populations dating to the 18^th and 19^th century: Lithuanian mummies from the Dominican Church of the Holy Spirit in Vilnius, and Sicilian mummies from the Sepulcher of the Priests in the Mother Church of Piraino. Both contexts are characterized by historical endemicity of pulmonary infectious diseases, including tuberculosis. The study is conducted within the framework of the Lithuanian Mummy Project and the Sicily Mummy Project, enabling a comparative approach across different environmental, cultural, and preservation conditions. To address the challenges posed by ancient and degraded biological material, we adopt an integrated analytical strategy combining targeted PCR-based screening, metagenomic sequencing, and culture-based approaches. This multipronged methodology aims to assess microbial preservation patterns, explore the diversity of detectable respiratory-associated microbial markers, and evaluate the feasibility of identifying tuberculosis-related signatures within a broader microbial landscape. By comparing mummified lung samples across distinct geographical settings, this work contributes to a better understanding of how historical, environmental, and taphonomic factors shape microbial detectability in ancient tissues, with implications for paleomicrobiology, evolutionary studies of respiratory pathogens, and the interpretation of ancient DNA data in modern infectious disease research.