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    Metagenomic analyses of bacteria on human hairs: a qualitative assessment for applications in forensic science

    212864_139853_Tridico_Bacteria_on_Hair_InvestigativeGenetics_2014.pdf (1.027Mb)
    Access Status
    Open access
    Authors
    Tridico, S.
    Murray, D.
    Addison, J.
    Kirkbride, K.
    Bunce, Michael
    Date
    2014
    Type
    Journal Article
    
    Metadata
    Show full item record
    Citation
    Tridico, S. and Murray, D. and Addison, J. and Kirkbride, K. and Bunce, M. 2014. Metagenomic analyses of bacteria on human hairs: a qualitative assessment for applications in forensic science. Investigative Genetics. 5 (16).
    Source Title
    Investigative Genetics
    DOI
    10.1186/s13323-014-0016-5
    ISSN
    2041-2223
    School
    Department of Environment and Agriculture
    Remarks

    This article is published under the Open Access publishing model and distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Please refer to the licence to obtain terms for any further reuse or distribution of this work.

    URI
    http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/25319
    Collection
    • Curtin Research Publications
    Abstract

    Background: Mammalian hairs are one of the most ubiquitous types of trace evidence collected in the course of forensic investigations. However, hairs that are naturally shed or that lack roots are problematic substrates for DNA profiling; these hair types often contain insufficient nuclear DNA to yield short tandem repeat (STR) profiles. Whilst there have been a number of initial investigations evaluating the value of metagenomics analyses for forensic applications (e.g. examination of computer keyboards), there have been no metagenomic evaluations of human hairs—a substrate commonly encountered during forensic practice. This present study attempts to address thisforensic capability gap, by conducting a qualitative assessment into the applicability of metagenomic analyses of human scalp and pubic hair.Results: Forty-two DNA extracts obtained from human scalp and pubic hairs generated a total of 79,766 reads, yielding 39,814 reads post control and abundance filtering. The results revealed the presence of unique combinations of microbial taxa that can enable discrimination between individuals and signature taxa indigenous to female pubic hairs. Microbial data from a single co-habiting couple added an extra dimension to the study by suggesting that metagenomic analyses might be of evidentiary value in sexual assault cases when other associative evidence is not present.Conclusions: Of all the data generated in this study, the next-generation sequencing (NGS) data generated from pubic hair held the most potential for forensic applications. Metagenomic analyses of human hairs may provide independent data to augment other forensic results and possibly provide association between victims of sexual assault and offender when other associative evidence is absent. Based on results garnered in the present study, we believe that with further development, bacterial profiling of hair will become a valuable addition to the forensic toolkit.

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