title: Potential use of bacterial community succession for estimating post-mortem interval as revealed by high-throughput sequencing.
abstract: Decomposition is a complex process involving the interaction of both biotic and abiotic factors. Microbes play a critical role in the process of carrion decomposition. In this study, we analysed bacterial communities from live rats and rat remains decomposed under natural conditions, or excluding sarcosaphagous insect interference, in China using Illumina MiSeq sequencing of 16S rRNA gene amplicons. A total of 1,394,842 high-quality sequences and 1,938 singleton operational taxonomic units were obtained. Bacterial communities showed notable variation in relative abundance and became more similar to each other across body sites during the decomposition process. As decomposition progressed, Proteobacteria (mostly Gammaproteobacteria) became the predominant phylum in both the buccal cavity and rectum, while Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes in the mouth and rectum, respectively, gradually decreased. In particular, the arrival and oviposition of sarcosaphagous insects had no obvious influence on bacterial taxa composition, but accelerated the loss of biomass. In contrast to the rectum, the microbial community structure in the buccal cavity of live rats differed considerably from that of rats immediately after death. Although this research indicates that bacterial communities can be used as a "microbial clock" for the estimation of post-mortem interval, further work is required to better understand this concept.
authors.affiliation: Department of Forensic Science, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan 410013, China.
authors.forename: Juanjuan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.affiliation: Department of Forensic Science, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan 410013, China.
authors.forename: Xiaoliang
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Fu
authors.affiliation: Department of Forensic Science, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan 410013, China.
authors.forename: Huidan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Liao
authors.affiliation: Xiangya School of Medicine, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan 410013, China.
authors.forename: Zhenyu
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.affiliation: Department of Forensic Science, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan 410013, China.
authors.forename: Lingling
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Long
authors.affiliation: Department of Forensic Science, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan 410013, China.
authors.forename: Weitao
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Yan
authors.affiliation: Department of Forensic Science, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan 410013, China.
authors.forename: Yanjun
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ding
authors.affiliation: Department of Forensic Science, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan 410013, China.
authors.forename: Lagabaiyila
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zha
authors.affiliation: Department of Forensic Science, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan 410013, China.
authors.forename: Yadong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.affiliation: Department of Forensic Science, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan 410013, China.
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yan
authors.affiliation: Department of Forensic Science, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan 410013, China.
authors.forename: Yunfeng
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.affiliation: Department of Forensic Science, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan 410013, China.
authors.forename: Jifeng
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Cai
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001344:Autopsy; D001419:Bacteria / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D041963:Bacteroidetes / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*; D005260:Female; D000068536:Bacillota / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D059014:High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing / Q000379:methods*; D064307:Microbiota / Q000235:genetics*; D009055:Mouth / Q000382:microbiology; D009061:Mouth Mucosa / Q000382:microbiology; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D020560:Proteobacteria / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000235:genetics; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D012007:Rectum / Q000382:microbiology; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S