Bioluminescent bacteria have potential as a marker of drowning in seawater: Two immersed cadavers retrieved near estuaries

In vitro study of possible microbial indicators for drowning: Salinity and types of bacterioplankton proliferating in blood

“…The presence of both bacterial species in a blood sample may suggest that a victim had drowned around an area of brackish water. However, perhaps either freshwater or marine bacteria would frequently be detected because only a few species can predominantly proliferate, as shown herein (Tables 3 and 4) and in previous studies [6][7][8].…”

“…The genus Aeromonas universally inhabits rivers or ponds (freshwater) throughout the world. Previous studies [6][7][8] have identified Aeromonas spp. in all victims (100%, n = 8) drowned in freshwater (rivers or ditches), but not in those who drowned in seawater, tap water, or in those who did not die by drowning but were discovered near rivers or the sea.…”

“…2) [7,9,15]. The plates were then stained with a cytochrome oxidase reagent [6] that causes marine or fresh water Gram-negative rods (such as the genera Vibrio, Photobacterium, Aeromonas and Plesiomonas) to turn blue (Fig.…”

“…Genomic DNA was purified using ISOPLANT (Nippon Gene, Toyama, Japan). About 1500 bp amplified by PCR from the 16S rRNA gene were sequenced as described in our previous reports [6][7][8]. The sequence of about 1460 bp (not including the primer region) was compared with known sequences using the Basic Local Alignment Search Tool (BLAST), and the most closely related species were determined from the EMBL/GeneBank/DDBJ database.…”

Detection of bacterioplankton using PCR probes as a diagnostic indicator for drowning; the Leicester experience

“…Although their work appeared promising, doubts still existed in relation to the use of faecal bacteria for the diagnosis of drowning [9]. Following on from this early work, a series of papers has been presented within the peer reviewed literature from Japan concerning the investigation of bacterioplankton, first in blood and latterly in tissue samples for the diagnosis of drowning [10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17]. This work has shown that using molecular approaches, most recently real-time PCR assays with TaqMan probes for bacterioplankton, it is possible to undertake rapid, less laborious, high throughput tests to differentiate freshwater from marine bacterioplankton and in doing so provide a molecular diagnostic test to assist in the diagnosis of drowning [18].…”