Bacterial Community Succession, Transmigration, and Differential Gene Transcription in a Controlled Vertebrate Decomposition Model.

ABSTRACT: Decomposing remains are a nutrient-rich ecosystem undergoing constant change due to cell breakdown and abiotic fluxes, such as pH level and oxygen availability. These environmental fluxes affect bacterial communities who respond in a predictive manner associated with the time since organismal death, or the postmortem interval (PMI). Profiles of microbial taxonomic turnover and transmigration are currently being studied in decomposition ecology, and in the field of forensic microbiology as indicators of the PMI. We monitored bacterial community structural and functional changes taking place during decomposition of the intestines, bone marrow, lungs, and heart in a highly controlled murine model. We found that organs presumed to be sterile during life are colonized by Clostridium duri

SUBMITTER: Burcham ZM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6482229 | biostudies-literature | 2019

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature