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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Sep 28, 2025

Scanning Skeletal Remains for Bone Mineral Density in Forensic Contexts

Scanning Skeletal Remains for Bone Mineral Density in Forensic Contexts

Published on: January 29, 2018

Postmortem Skeletal Microbial Community Composition and Function in Buried Human Remains.

Alexandra L Emmons¹, Amy Z Mundorff¹, Katharina M Hoeland²

¹Department of Anthropology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee, USA.

|March 30, 2022

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

The postmortem bone microbiome differs from soil and the human gut. Microbial communities in buried bones are influenced by the burial environment, impacting skeletal preservation and human remains identification.

Keywords:

bone metabolomics microbial ecology microbiome skeletal DNA skeleton soil microbiology subsurface decomposition taphonomy

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Microbiota Analysis Using Two-step PCR and Next-generation 16S rRNA Gene Sequencing

Microbiota Analysis Using Two-step PCR and Next-generation 16S rRNA Gene Sequencing

Published on: October 15, 2019

Area of Science:

Forensic Science
Microbiology
Environmental Science

Background:

Bones and teeth are crucial for identifying human remains after decomposition.
Microbial communities on bone influence its preservation and DNA survivability.
Previous studies focused on surface decomposition, leaving a gap in understanding subsurface bone microbiomes.

Purpose of the Study:

To characterize the postmortem bone microbiome in buried human remains.
To understand microbial community origins and assembly in subsurface environments.
To investigate the impact of microbial colonization on bone preservation and DNA integrity.

Main Methods:

16S rRNA amplicon sequencing of bone and soil samples.
Comparison with surface-decomposed bone and human gut microbiome data.
Untargeted metabolomics on buried bone samples to analyze microbe-metabolite interactions.

Main Results:

Postmortem bone microbial communities are distinct from surface soils and the human gut.
Burial environment significantly shapes bone microbiome composition, with deeper, saturated sites favoring anaerobic taxa.
Evidence suggests phosphate solubilization by microbes like Pseudomonas contributes to skeletal degradation.

Conclusions:

The depositional environment is a key factor in establishing the bone microbiome.
Microbial activity, particularly phosphate solubilization, plays a role in skeletal degradation.
This research enhances understanding of microbes affecting buried bone preservation and human identification.