URC 2023 Abstract
Abai Daniel
Oral microbiome taxa abundance shifts in forensically relevant decomposition contribute to community composition changes
Bacteria are critical players in decomposition, with changing communities of microbes that participate throughout the distinct stages of the process. Given that community composition at a given time can be influenced by community members at previous timesteps and that species from members of different genera or ecological guilds might contribute differently, it is critical to understand how potentially relevant groupings could influence decomposition. To better understand the role of bacterial species with potential forensic relevance, we evaluated changes in abundance for bacterial species known to contribute to the human oral microbiome in a composite dataset of 26 replicates of a decomposition experiment performed at the University of North Texas at Dallas campus over three years. Oral microbiome species were selected due to their high likelihood of being present at the earliest stages of decomposition. Data were collected as part of a larger project using fetal pigs as a model of forensically relevant decomposition. We expected species associated with the oral microbiome would differ across stages, with their activity primarily being associated with the earlier stages of decomposition. Using multivariate analyses, we were able to determine that bacteria associated with oral health in humans did follow a general pattern of being present early in decompositional stages but not in later ones, with some species notably being present throughout. This finding suggests that species making up a cadaver's initial microbiome at the time of death can contribute differently to the stages of decomposition, with some being more likely to contribute to the process overall as opposed to only later stages. These results improve our understanding of how the microbiome at the time of death can influence the trajectory of decomposition and improve our understanding of which species or groups might be good indicators of taxa for specific stages of decomposition.
Presenter: 093
Abai Daniel Senior University of North Texas at Dallas Affiliations: BAT LSAMP
Abstract: B093
Impact Area: Energy
Session: B - Tues. April 1, 1:30 PM, TTU Museum Sculpture Garden
Project Author(s)
Abai Daniel, Fatima Enriquez, Nicole Everitt, Connor Hester, MeSha McClanahan, Jordan Miner, Angela Ngo, Katia Tabago, Irene Rico, Kalie Scott.
Mentor
Nicholas Lorusso Unt Dallas
Center for Transformative Undergraduate Experiences
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Address
TrUE, Drane Hall #239, MS 1010 -
Phone
806.742.1095 -
Email
true@ttu.edu