Javan TSU Cadaver Soil 16S. Javan TSU Cadaver Soil 16S

In medico-legal investigations, it is often difficult determine the time of death, or postmortem interval (PMI), due in part to a poor understanding of the decomposition process. Researchers from different disciplines are investigating new methods to accurately and systematically estimate PMI. Since bacteria are attributed as the main prokaryotic promotors of corpse decomposition, the goal of this study is to survey the bacteria associated with gravesoil under corpses to identify new lines of inquiry for PMI determination. Using next-generation sequencing, (1) bacterial community abundance patterns were detected and identified and (2) the taxon richness of bacteria was observed for various corpses at different stages of decomposition to identify taxa important for estimating PMI. The results demonstrated that Proteobacteria was the most abundant phylum in all cadaver soil sampled. To date, results of a metagenomic approach of this kind that documents the distinct bacterial communities in soil under corpses decomposing in the natural setting of the FACTS facility remains unreported and has applicability towards advancing PMI determination studies.