UDC

579.61:340.6

Authors

Andrey N. Prikhod’ko*, Ol’ga S. Lavrukova**, Natal’ya A. Sidorova**, Vyacheslav L. Popov***
*Bureau of Forensic Medical Examination (Petrozavodsk, Russian Federation)
**Petrozavodsk State University (Petrozavodsk, Russian Federation)
***Academician I.P. Pavlov First St. Petersburg State Medical University (St. Petersburg, Russian Federation)
Corresponding author: Ol’ga Lavrukova, address: ul. Borovaya 32, kv. 4, Petrozavodsk, 185013, Respublika Kareliya, Russian Federation; e-mail: olgalavrukova@yandex.ru

Abstract

This article summarizes the results of complex studies on specific postmortem microbiomes isolated from the surface of bone remains found in the composition of historical burials. Using standard methods, 9 samples were obtained from the surfaces of the femur and the ilium as well as from the surface of the musculoskeletal conglomerate in the anterior projection of the sacrum surface. The isolates were identified as Ascomycota and Deuteromycota. In all the cultures we observed pronounced phenotypic polymorphism, low activity of extracellular hydrolases, and high activity of mycelial catalase, which is a factor of adaptation to the conditions of oxidative stress arising from deficiency of nutrient substrate for the isolated groups of microorganisms. Fungi of the genus Cladosporium can be considered better adapted to protein and carbohydrate deficiency. We have suggested that in the course of decomposition of bone remains, specific recolonization of the substrate takes place. Environmental factors, climatic and weather phenomena as well as changes in the oxidation-reduction potential of the bone matrix caused by necrobiont fauna create new opportunities for microbial infiltration into bones. Primary colonizers of corpses are replaced by microorganisms of bone remains capable of acquiring nutrients and energy from the tissues of bones, ligaments and hair, thereby increasing their own metabolic and taxonomic diversity. The main reason for recolonization of substrates with a limited set of nutrients is the labile enzymatic apparatus of the microorganisms adapted to oligotrophy. The results obtained allow us to estimate the contribution of certain postmortem microbiome species to the changes in the structure of bone fragments, which in future can expand the evidence base for forensic medical examination and forensic archaeology.

Keywords

forensic medical examination, forensic archaeology, necrobiome, bone remains, phenotypic polymorphism of microorganisms, adaptation of microorganisms

References

1. Kuz’min S.A., Usov A.I., Govorina N.V. Perspektivy razvitiya sudebno-arkheologicheskogo napravleniya v sudebno-ekspertnom proizvodstve gosudarstv-chlenov EVRAZES [Prospects for the Advancement of Forensic Archaeology as a Branch of Forensic Inquiry in EurAsEC Member States]. Teoriya i praktika sudebnoy ekspertizy, 2013, no. 4, pp. 121–125.
2. Davis J. Forensic Archaeology. Archaeological Review from Cambridge, 1992, vol. 11, no. 1, pp. 152–156.
3. Korshunov N.V. Diagnostika davnosti smerti pri issledovanii trupov v stadii gnilostnoy ikh transformatsii [Determining the Postmortem Interval of the Bodies at the Stage of Putrefaction]. Moscow, 2007. 24 p.
4. Jurtshuk P. Jr. Bacterial Metabolism. Baron S. (ed.). Medical Microbiology. Galveston, 1996. Available at: http:// www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK7919/ (accessed 30 October 2016).
5. Damann F.E., Carter D.O. Human Decomposition Ecology and Postmortem Microbiology. Pokines J., Symes S. (eds.). Manual of Forensic Taphonomy. Boca Raton, 2014, pp. 37–49.
6. Turner-Walker G. The Chemical and Microbial Degradation of Bones and Teeth. Pinhasi R., Mays S. (eds.). Advances in Human Paleopathology. Chichester, 2008, pp. 3–29.
7. Damann F.E., Williams D.E., Layton A.C. Potential Use of Bacterial Community Succession in Decaying Human Bone for Estimating Postmortem Interval. J. Forensic Sci., 2015, vol. 60, no. 4, pp. 844–850.
8. Child A.M. Towards an Understanding of the Microbial Decomposition of Archaeological Bone in the Burial Environment. J. Archaeol. Sci., 1995, vol. 22, no. 2, pp. 165–174.
9. Efremov I.A. Tafonomiya i geologicheskaya letopisʼ. Kn. 1. Zakhoronenie nazemnykh faun v paleozoe [Taphonomy and the Geological Record. Book 1. Burial of Terrestrial Faunas in the Paleozoic]. Moscow, 1950. 178 р.
10. Knorre D.A., Starovoytova A.N., Sokolov S.S., Sorokin M.I., Severin F.F. Rol’ funktsional’nogo sostoyaniya mitokhondriy v obrazovanii psevdogif kletkami drozhzhey Saccharomyces cerevisiae [Role of the Functional State of Mitochondria in the Formation of Pseudohyphae by Saccharomyces cerevisiae Yeast Cells]. Sovremennaya mikologiya v Rossii [Mycology in Russia Today]. Moscow, 2012. Vol. 3, p. 96.