NCJ Number
216801
Journal
Journal of Forensic Sciences Volume: 51 Issue: 6 Dated: November 2006 Pages: 1315-1322
Date Published
November 2006
Length
8 pages
Annotation
This study tested the hypothesis that soil microbial community profiling could be used to distinguish between soil types by providing biological fingerprints that reveal uniqueness.
Abstract
The study determined that amplicon length heterogeneity-polymerase chain reaction (ALH-PCR) microbial metagenome profiling--a technique that has often been used in ecological settings to characterize microbial communities--can distinguish among oils and thus have exclusionary value in criminal cases that contain soil as evidence samples. Although a greater number of samples, as well as soil-type variety, must be assessed in order to be able to individualize soils, ALH-PCR proved to be a robust, reliable comparison technique that requires equipment already present in most crime laboratories. This procedure allows a relatively fast turnaround time and entails less sample handling compared with similar methods. The study involved the random selection and sampling of three of the six Miami-Dade soil types. Researchers compared the microbial metagenome profiles generated by using ALH-PCR analysis of the 16 S rRNA genes with inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy analysis of 13 elements (Al, B, Ca, Cu, Fe, K, Mg, Mn, Na, P,S, Si, and ZN) that are commonly found in soils. Bray-Curtis similarity index and analysis of similarity were performed on all data in order to establish differences within site, among sites, and across two seasons. These data matrixes were used to group samples that shared similar community patterns, using nonmetric multidimensional sealing analysis. 5 figures, 3 tables, and 55 references