Session: Session 2

Faunal sex determination by proteomics, a valuable prospect in bioarchaeology

Lou SPANNEUT^1,2, Deano STYNDER⁶, Vincent HARE⁶, Anne-Marie MOIGNE⁷, Gaël BECAM⁷, Agnès TESTU⁷, Pierre MAGNIEZ², Gwenaëlle GOUDE², Thibaut DEVIÈSE¹, Fabrice BRAY³, Stéphanie FLAMENT³, Ludovic ORLANDO⁴, Laure TONASSO⁴, Lorelei CHAUVEY⁴, Stéphanie SCHIAVINATO⁴, Jofred OPPERMAN⁵, Gabriel LUKOJI⁵

¹Aix Marseille Université, CNRS, IRD, INRAE, Collège de France, CEREGE, Aix-en-provence, France
²Aix Marseille Université, CNRS, Ministère Culture, LAMPEA, Aix-en-provence, France
³Université de Lille, CNRS, UAR 3290-MSAP, Lille, France
⁴CAGT, CNRS UMR 5288, Université Paul Sabatier, Toulouse, France
⁵Iziko Museum, Cape Town, South Africa
⁶Department of Archaeology, University of Cape Town,, Cape Town, South Africa
⁷UMR 7194 HNHP, Université de Perpignan Via Domitia, CERP, Tautavel, France

Since the 2000s, advancements in mass spectrometry (MS) have led to a wide range of applications in paleoproteomics for the identification of proteins in archaeological contexts. Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption Ionization (MALDI) coupled with Time of Flight (ToF) or high-resolution Fourier Transform - Ion Cyclotron Resonance (FT-ICR) MS, have notably enabled species identification method. The so-called Zooarchaeological Mass Spectrometry (ZooMS) method particularly enhanced our understanding of faunal and human bone assemblages.

Recently, Liquid Chromatography coupled with tandem MS (LC-MS/MS) has been used for sexing human archaeological samples by analyzing amelogenin in dental enamel, a protein encoded by sex chromosomes. This method can discriminate AMEL-X and AMEL-Y peptides, and has proven multiple times to be efficient for sexing human teeth with minimally invasive sampling. Proteomics sexing is therefore becoming a complement to osteological and genomic analyses in paleoanthropology.

Sexing faunal teeth could enhance our understanding of subsistence strategies, paleoecology, and Human-Fauna relations. To date, much fewer tests were performed on faunal teeth but it has been shown that many species possess distinctive AMEL-X and AMEL-Y sequences. It therefore highlights the need to transpose existing sexing methods to these faunal species.

This poster will present a study led at the University of Lille, in collaboration with Aix-Marseille University, which consist in testing the feasibility of LC-MS/MS analyses for identifying AMEL-X and AMEL-Y in faunal specimens using 31 reference teeth from horse, reindeer, hyena, and cave bear. Samples underwent amelogenin extraction and digestion, followed by analysis on MALDI FT-ICR 9.4 Tesla and LC-MS/MS Orbitrap systems. Data were processed with PeaksStudio software.

Results showed satisfactory amelogenin preservation, enabling us to discuss the potential for sex discrimination in some of the mentioned taxa.