Introduction
Material and methods
Sample collection and assessment of decomposition
Score | Signs of decomposition |
---|---|
1 | Fresh, no discoloration |
2 | Pink-white appearance with skin slippage, some hair loss |
3 | Gray to green discoloration of skin |
4 | Drying of nose, ears and lips |
5 | Purging of decompositional fluids out of eyes, ears, nose, mouth |
6 | Muscle tissue brown-black |
7 | Caving in of facial tissue |
8 | Bones visible (< 50% of scoring area) |
9 | Mummification, bones visible > 50% of scoring area |
DNA isolation and pyrosequencing
Score 1 | ng/μl DNA | Degradation index | Score 2 + 3 | ng/μl DNA | Degradation index | Score 4 + 5 | ng/μl DNA | Degradation index | Score > 6 | ng/μl DNA | Degradation index |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
L05 | 31.94 | 1.91 | L03 | 84.62 | 1.48 | L06 | 79.08 | 1.43 | L01 * | 0.00 | Not applicable (degradation) |
L08 * | 0.03 | 42.57 | L09 | 12.49 | 3.11 | L15 | 38.53 | 6.18 | L07 * | 0.01 | 7.43 |
L12 | 14.59 | 1.43 | L10 | 60.82 | 4.68 | L16 | 60.94 | 2.31 | L14 * | 1.12 | 4.93 |
L21 * | 0.01 | 6.01 | L11 | 154.96 | 1.89 | L19 | 102.89 | 1.22 | L33 * | 0.01 | 4.86 |
L22 | 27.92 | 5.32 | L13 | 56.24 | 1.36 | L28 * | 0.00 | 4.34 | L64 * | 0.19 | 2.82 |
L23 * | 0.02 | 12.69 | L17 | 63.28 | 6.90 | L30 | 70.12 | 2.13 | L65 * | 0.01 | 4.4 |
L25 | 12.58 | 1.32 | L18 | 134.57 | 1.63 | L34 | 72.12 | 15.34 | L71 * | 0.00 | 4.75 |
L26 | 110.62 | 1.82 | L24 | 12.97 | 8.14 | L36 | 66.14 | 8.79 | L74 * | 0.00 | 13.02 |
L27 | 33.44 | 1.28 | L32 | 233.64 | 1.77 | L39 | 45.85 | 6.64 | L76 * | 0.00 | 2.7 |
L29 | 66.13 | 1.63 | L35 * | 2.00 | 2.30 | L42 | 3.55 | 4.28 | L79 * | 0.01 | 27.28 |
L31 | 16.69 | 2.30 | L40 | 73.56 | 1.51 | L44 * | 1.04 | 10.54 | L80 | 100.76 | 3.38 |
L37 | 9.65 | 1.86 | L57 | 303.26 | 1.59 | L45 | 97.53 | 1.82 | L81 * | 0.01 | 2.56 |
L43 | 56.78 | 1.62 | L63 | 144.22 | 1.94 | L46 | 33.03 | 3.58 | |||
L47 | 16.73 | 4.42 | L69 * | 0.00 | 23.26 | L49 | 59.44 | 1.41 | |||
L50 | 74.78 | 2.07 | L75 | 10.22 | 2.06 | L51 | 80.71 | 5.24 | |||
L53 | 33.71 | 2.88 | L77 | 93.60 | 3.62 | L56 | 62.74 | 3.74 | |||
L54 | 36.53 | 1.74 | L82 | 20.51 | 5.04 | L58 | 122.19 | 2.75 | |||
L60 * | 0.47 | 1.52 | L83 * | 0.00 | 5.00 | L61 | 70.72 | 3.37 | |||
L70 | 63.45 | 2.63 | L62 | 51.11 | 12.14 | ||||||
L73 | 90.10 | 1.65 | L67 * | 0.17 | 6.44 | ||||||
L78 | 134.01 | 2.67 | L68 | 41.27 | 2.16 | ||||||
L72 | 49.28 | 2.59 | |||||||||
Mean | 39.53 | 4.83 | 81.16 | 4.29 | 54.93 | 4.93 | 8.51 | 7.10 |