title: A microbial clock provides an accurate estimate of the postmortem interval in a mouse model system.
abstract: Establishing the time since death is critical in every death investigation, yet existing techniques are susceptible to a range of errors and biases. For example, forensic entomology is widely used to assess the postmortem interval (PMI), but errors can range from days to months. Microbes may provide a novel method for estimating PMI that avoids many of these limitations. Here we show that postmortem microbial community changes are dramatic, measurable, and repeatable in a mouse model system, allowing PMI to be estimated within approximately 3 days over 48 days. Our results provide a detailed understanding of bacterial and microbial eukaryotic ecology within a decomposing corpse system and suggest that microbial community data can be developed into a forensic tool for estimating PMI. DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.01104.001.
authors.affiliation: Biofrontiers Institute , University of Colorado at Boulder , Boulder , United States.
authors.forename: Jessica L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Metcalf
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wegener Parfrey
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gonzalez
authors.forename: Christian L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Lauber
authors.forename: Dan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Knights
authors.forename: Gail
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ackermann
authors.forename: Gregory C
authors.initials: GC
authors.lastname: Humphrey
authors.forename: Matthew J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Gebert
authors.forename: Will
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Van Treuren
authors.forename: Donna
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Berg-Lyons
authors.forename: Kyle
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Keepers
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.forename: James
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bullard
authors.forename: Noah
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Fierer
authors.forename: David O
authors.initials: DO
authors.lastname: Carter
authors.forename: Rob
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Knight
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D044707:Forensic Sciences; D051379:Mice; D064307:Microbiota; D023421:Models, Animal; D011180:Postmortem Changes
keywords: Mouse; decomposition; forensics; microbial ecology; microbial succession; postmortem interval; time since death