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Time Radically Alters Ex Situ Evidentiary Soil 16S Bacterial Profiles Produced Via Next‐Generation Sequencing , ,
Author(s) -
Badgley Alyssa J.,
Jesmok Ellen M.,
Foran David R.
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
journal of forensic sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.715
H-Index - 96
eISSN - 1556-4029
pISSN - 0022-1198
DOI - 10.1111/1556-4029.13753
Subject(s) - soil water , 16s ribosomal rna , biology , in situ , profiling (computer programming) , abundance (ecology) , ecology , habitat , soil microbiology , environmental science , bacteria , computer science , genetics , geography , meteorology , operating system
Previous research has revealed the potential of soil bacterial profiling for forensic purposes; however, investigators have not thoroughly examined fluctuations in microbial profiles from soil aged on evidence. In this research, soils collected from multiple habitats were placed on evidence items and sampled over time, and then bacterial profiles were generated via next‐generation sequencing of the 16S rRNA locus. Bacterial abundance charts and nonmetric multidimensional scaling plots provided visual representation of bacterial profiles temporally, while supervised classification was used to statistically associate evidence to a source. The ex situ evidence soils displayed specific, consistent taxonomic changes as they aged, resulting in their drift in multidimensional space, but never toward a different habitat. Ninety‐five percent of the 364 evidentiary profiles statistically classified to the correct habitat, with misclassification generally stemming from evidence type and increased age. Ultimately, understanding bacterial changes that occur temporally in ex situ soils should enhance their use in forensic investigations.