MICROBIALLY-INDUCED PROMOTION OF AMINO-ACID RACEMIZATION IN BONE - ISOLATION OF THE MICROORGANISMS AND THE DETECTION OF THEIR ENZYMES

Recent work on the Spitalfields population has shown that the age at death determination using the S/R (L/D) enantiomeric ratios of aspartic acid in the tooth collagen gives rise to discrepancies from the expected results. It has been suggested that the cause of these discrepancies is microbiological. A large number of microorganisms able to use tooth and bone proteins have been isolated and identified, and enzymes which will alter tooth and bone proteins have been detected in some of them. © 1993 Academic Press Limited.