Characterizing forensically important insect and microbial community colonization patterns in buried remains

Iancu, Lavinia; Junkins, Emily N.; Necula-Petrareanu, Georgiana; Purcarea, Cristina

doi:10.1038/s41598-018-33794-0

Cited by 25 publications

(27 citation statements)

References 96 publications

(130 reference statements)

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“…Enterococcus faecalis additionally sprang up to exploit a variety of resources by tolerating severe salt and alkalinity (Stuart et al, 2006). Similar to its eukaryotic host, L. sericata, this bacterium has been provided promising data for PMI estimation (Iancu et al, 2018), although its role in the MDT and biology of L. sericata is unclear.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

New Insights Into Culturable and Unculturable Bacteria Across the Life History of Medicinal Maggots Lucilia sericata (Meigen) (Diptera: Calliphoridae)

et al. 2020

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Because of the nutritional ecology of dung-and carrion-feeding, bacteria are the integral part of Lucilia sericata life cycle. Nevertheless, the disinfected larvae of the blowfly are applied to treat human chronic wounds in a biosurgery named maggot debridement therapy (MDT). To realize the effects of location/diet on the gut bacteria, to infer the role of bacteria in the blowfly ecology plus in the MDT process, and to disclose bacteria circulating horizontally in and vertically between generations, bacterial communities associated with L. sericata specimens from various sources were investigated using culture-based and culture-independent methods. In total, 265 bacteria, including 20 families, 28 genera, and 40 species, were identified in many sources of the L. sericata. Culture-dependent method identified a number of 144 bacterial isolates, including 21 species, in flies reared in an insectary; specimens were collected from the field, and thirdinstar larvae retrieved from chronic wounds of patients. Metagenetic approach exposed the occurrences of 121 operational taxonomic units comprising of 32 bacterial species from immature and adult stages of L. sericata. Gammaproteobacteria was distinguished as the dominant class of bacteria by both methods. Bacteria came into the life cycle of L. sericata over the foods and transovarially infected eggs. Enterococcus faecalis, Myroides phaeus, Proteus species, Providencia vermicola, and Serratia marcescens were exchanged among individuals via transstadial transmission. Factors, including diets, feeding status, identification tool, gut compartment, and life stage, governed the bacteria species. Herein, we reemphasized that L. sericata is thoroughly connected to the bacteria both in numerous gut compartments and in different life stages. Among all, transstadially transmitted bacteria are underlined, indicating the lack of antagonistic effect of the larval excretions/secretions on these resident bacteria. While the culture-dependent method generated useful data on the viable aerobic gut bacteria,

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

New Insights Into Culturable and Unculturable Bacteria Across the Life History of Medicinal Maggots Lucilia sericata (Meigen) (Diptera: Calliphoridae)

et al. 2020

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“…The decomposition dynamics of human and animal carcasses is dependent on the cause of death, ante mortem circumstances, geographical location, meteorological parameters as well as specific conditions encountered at the decomposition environmental site 9,31,32 . For the most part, the decomposition begins immediately after the negative signs of life are installed, manifested by the biochemical changes and the proliferation of bacteria from the gastrointestinal tract.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…When the temperatures are higher, a decomposed body attracts faster Diptera and/or Coleoptera species that reproduce and feed on the remains 33 . Starting with the initial moment of carcass colonization by different necrophagous insect species (especially blowflies), a microbiome transfer from the insect species to the colonized remains also takes place 9,34 .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This article provides first insights into the bacterial transfer quantification having potential implications in the field of forensic sciences. The importance of the present study also resides in the fact that these bacterial taxa were identified from different necrophagous insect species, sampled from different geographical locations 6,7,9,16,[24][25][26] , so that the data obtained during this survey can be of use to the international scientific community, due to their role as possible PMI biomarkers in the absence of insects. Nevertheless, before any conclusion is drawn, numerous studies must be carried out, using even other insect-specific bacteria, and even other insect species that colonize decomposed remains.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Potential bacterial biomarkers for insect colonization in forensic cases: preliminary quantitative data on Wohlfahrtiimonas chitiniclastica and Ignatzschineria indica dynamics

Iancu

Necula-Petrareanu

Purcarea

2020

Sci Rep

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For the last decades, forensic microbiology became an emerging complementary tool in criminalistics. Although the insect-microbe interactions regarding pathogen transmission were extensively studied, only scarce information is available on bacterial transfer from necrophagous insects to host tissues. Our data provides the first report on the occurrence of Wohlfahrtiimonas chitiniclastica and Ignatzschineria indica in Lucilia illustris Meigen, 1826 (Diptera: Calliphoridae), and the quantitative dynamics of the two bacterial species along the insect life-stages and transfer to beef and pork host tissues using qPCR gyrase b specific primers. The content of both bacterial species increased along the insect life stages. W. chitiniclastica was detected in all developmental stages independent of the feeding substrate. I. indica was measurable with 102 gene copies ng−1 DNA threshold starting from the third instar larvae when feeding on beef, and from the egg stage with a 102× higher representation when using the pork substrate. The transfer of bacterial species to both tissues occurred after 3 colonization days except for I. indica that was visible in beef liver only during day 5. Considering the utilization of pork tissues as human analogues, these quantitative microbial dynamics data provides first insect-specific bacterial candidates as potential colonization biomarkers in forensic investigations.

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“…These phenomena, however, are as well restricted to specific time frames [ 5 ] and certain circumstances surrounding death [ 6 ]. In advanced phases of decomposition, forensic entomology can be used for PMI determination [ 7 , 8 ]. Despite being the most reliable source for PMI estimation in advanced stages postmortem, forensic entomology also has its limitations due to several parameters that can prevent or delay insect colonization (weather, burial of the corpse, low temperature etc.)…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dismembered porcine limbs as a proxy for postmortem muscle protein degradation

et al. 2021

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The estimation of the postmortem interval (PMI) is of critical importance in forensic routine. The most frequently applied methods, however, are all restricted to specific time periods or must be excluded under certain circumstances. In the last years it has been shown that the analysis of muscle protein degradation has the potential to contribute to according delimitations in practice. In particular, upon biochemical analysis, the specific time points of degradation events provide reasonable markers for PMI delimitation. Nevertheless, considerable research is yet required to increase the understanding of protein decomposition and how it is affected by individual and environmental influencing factors. This is best investigated under standardized conditions, however, a considerate selection of proxies, regarding costs, effort, and expected outcome is required. Here, we use pigs to compare muscle protein decomposition in whole bodies and dismembered body parts (amputated hind limbs). Not only do experiments on body parts reduce the costs and allow easier handling in basic research, but also they aid to investigate the practical application of PMI estimation in dismembered body parts, or other extensive injuries, which are not unusual scenarios in crime investigation. Specifically, we investigated whether there are differences in the degradation rates of selected muscle proteins, sampled from dismembered legs and from hind limbs attached to whole pig bodies. Our results show distinct time-dependent degradation patterns of muscle proteins in a predictable manner regardless of sample origin. We are able to demonstrate that amputated hind limbs are suitable proxies for the analysis of muscle protein degradation, especially to investigate certain influencing factors and establish according standardized models.

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Characterizing forensically important insect and microbial community colonization patterns in buried remains

Cited by 25 publications

References 96 publications

New Insights Into Culturable and Unculturable Bacteria Across the Life History of Medicinal Maggots Lucilia sericata (Meigen) (Diptera: Calliphoridae)

New Insights Into Culturable and Unculturable Bacteria Across the Life History of Medicinal Maggots Lucilia sericata (Meigen) (Diptera: Calliphoridae)

Potential bacterial biomarkers for insect colonization in forensic cases: preliminary quantitative data on Wohlfahrtiimonas chitiniclastica and Ignatzschineria indica dynamics

Dismembered porcine limbs as a proxy for postmortem muscle protein degradation

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