NECROBIOME SUCCESSION IN COLD CONDITIONS

<p>This research presents the findings from a study that involved assessment of the changes in the necrobiome reflected in muscle tissue samples collected from two human donors that were allowed to naturally decompose in differing temperatures over a six-month period. The research questions addressed by this study include whether the biodiversity or the abundance of certain bacteria rises or falls with increasing and decreasing temperatures, and whether or not a bacterial succession pattern could be established. DNA was isolated from the samples derived from muscles in two separate regions of the body, vastus lateralis (thigh) and deltoid (shoulder), and they were sequenced using 16S ribosomal RNA sequencing. The result was filtered using QIIME2 and analyzed using R/RStudio. This study found that in one donor, biodiversity of necrobiome communities increased with rising temperatures and decreased with falling temperatures, while the bacterial abundance decreased during this time. The increase of biodiversity with increasing temperatures also occurred during a transition from laboratory conditions to environmental conditions and could have played a role. The other donor in this study demonstrated an increase in abundance and a decrease in biodiversity during the same timeframe. More necrobiome research needs to be done to determine a bacterial succession pattern. The human remains used in this study were donated voluntarily to the Northern Michigan University Forensic Research Outdoor Station (FROST) through the NMU Body Donation Program.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Science

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Biology

Year dc:date.available

2023

Author dc:creator

• Herst, Callan M

Contributors dc:contributor

• Josh Sharp

• forensics
• microbiome
• necrobiome
• human muscle tissue
• 16s rRNA sequencing
• cold conditions
• Forensic Research Outdoor Station
• Forensic Anthropology Research Laboratory
• Northern Michigan University
• Microbiology
• Other Microbiology

Repository record dc:identifier

https://commons.nmu.edu/theses/769

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:commons.nmu.edu:theses-1816