Dataset Information

Carcass mass has little influence on the structure of gravesoil microbial communities.

ABSTRACT: Little is known about how variables, such as carcass mass, affect the succession pattern of microbes in soils during decomposition. To investigate the effects of carcass mass on the soil microbial community, soils associated with swine (Sus scrofa domesticus) carcasses of four different masses were sampled until the 15th day of decomposition during the month of June in a pasture near Lincoln, Nebraska. Soils underneath swine of 1, 20, 40, and 50 kg masses were investigated in triplicate, as well as control sites not associated with a carcass. Soil microbial communities were characterized by sequencing the archaeal, bacterial (16S), and eukaryotic (18S) rRNA genes in soil samples. We conclude that time of decomposition was a significant influence on the microbial community, but carcass mass was not. The gravesoil associated with 1 kg mass carcasses differs most compared to the gravesoil associated with other carcass masses. We also identify the 15 most abundant bacterial and eukaryotic taxa, and discuss changes in their abundance as carcass decomposition progressed. Finally, we show significant decreases in alpha diversity for carcasses of differing mass in pre-carcass rupture (days 0, 1, 2, 4, 5, and 6 postmortem) versus post-carcass rupture (days 9 and 15 postmortem) microbial communities.

SUBMITTER: Weiss S

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9645124 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Carcass mass has little influence on the structure of gravesoil microbial communities.

Weiss Sophie S Carter David O DO Metcalf Jessica L JL Knight Rob R

International journal of legal medicine 20150530 1

Little is known about how variables, such as carcass mass, affect the succession pattern of microbes in soils during decomposition. To investigate the effects of carcass mass on the soil microbial community, soils associated with swine (Sus scrofa domesticus) carcasses of four different masses were sampled until the 15th day of decomposition during the month of June in a pasture near Lincoln, Nebraska. Soils underneath swine of 1, 20, 40, and 50 kg masses were investigated in triplicate, as well ...[more]

PMID: 26024793

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Project description:BackgroundAnthrax is a globally distributed disease affecting primarily herbivorous mammals. It is caused by the soil-dwelling and spore-forming bacterium Bacillus anthracis. The dormant B. anthracis spores become vegetative after ingestion by grazing mammals. After killing the host, B. anthracis cells return to the soil where they sporulate, completing the lifecycle of the bacterium. Here we present the first study describing temporal microbial soil community changes in Etosha National Park, Namibia, after decomposition of two plains zebra (Equus quagga) anthrax carcasses. To circumvent state-associated-challenges (i.e. vegetative cells/spores) we monitored B. anthracis throughout the period using cultivation, qPCR and shotgun metagenomic sequencing.ResultsThe combined results suggest that abundance estimation of spore-forming bacteria in their natural habitat by DNA-based approaches alone is insufficient due to poor recovery of DNA from spores. However, our combined approached allowed us to follow B. anthracis population dynamics (vegetative cells and spores) in the soil, along with closely related organisms from the B. cereus group, despite their high sequence similarity. Vegetative B. anthracis abundance peaked early in the time-series and then dropped when cells either sporulated or died. The time-series revealed that after carcass deposition, the typical semi-arid soil community (e.g. Frankiales and Rhizobiales species) becomes temporarily dominated by the orders Bacillales and Pseudomonadales, known to contain plant growth-promoting species.ConclusionOur work indicates that complementing DNA based approaches with cultivation may give a more complete picture of the ecology of spore forming pathogens. Furthermore, the results suggests that the increased vegetation biomass production found at carcass sites is due to both added nutrients and the proliferation of microbial taxa that can be beneficial for plant growth. Thus, future B. anthracis transmission events at carcass sites may be indirectly facilitated by the recruitment of plant-beneficial bacteria.

Dataset Information

Carcass mass has little influence on the structure of gravesoil microbial communities.

Publications

Carcass mass has little influence on the structure of gravesoil microbial communities.

Similar Datasets

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