Project description:Forensic body fluid identification is important for crime scene reconstruction. We used Illumina HumanMethylation 450K bead array containing over the 450,000 CpG sites in 16 body fluid samples to find novel DNA methylation marker for forensic body fluid identification. Examination of genome-wide DNA methylation profiling in 16 body fluid samples
Project description:Forensic body fluid identification is important for crime scene reconstruction. We used Illumina HumanMethylation 450K bead array containing over the 450,000 CpG sites in 16 body fluid samples to find novel DNA methylation marker for forensic body fluid identification.
Project description:Bone is a long-lasting biological tissue often used in forensic investigations as it retains vital biomolecular information commonly used for identification purposes. Bone proteins have attracted interest for their potential in estimating post-mortem interval (PMI) and age-at-death (AAD). However, the preservation of such proteins is highly dependent on intrinsic and extrinsic factors, and these have an impact in the potential application of molecular techniques to forensic sciences. The present study aims at investigating the effect that two commonly used types of burial practices (entombment and inhumation) have on bone protein survival. The sample consists in 14 exhumed individuals from cemeteries in south of Italy at with different AADs (29-85 yeas) and PMIs (1-37 years). LC-MS/MS analyses show that 16 proteins are better preserved in the entombed condition and four in the inhumated one, while no clear cluster separation is detected with principal component analysis. Besides the different burial environments, several potential protein markers are identified for PMI and AAD estimation. Overall, preliminary results show that the two burial environments seem to play a marginal role in the differential preservation of non-collagenous proteins and in the accumulation of post-translational modifications, confirming the potential of LC-MS/MS based proteomics in forensic sciences.
Project description:The experiment at three long-term agricultural experimental stations (namely the N, M and S sites) across northeast to southeast China was setup and operated by the Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences. This experiment belongs to an integrated project (The Soil Reciprocal Transplant Experiment, SRTE) which serves as a platform for a number of studies evaluating climate and cropping effects on soil microbial diversity and its agro-ecosystem functioning. Soil transplant serves as a proxy to simulate climate change in realistic climate regimes. Here, we assessed the effects of soil type, soil transplant and landuse changes on soil microbial communities, which are key drivers in Earth’s biogeochemical cycles.
Project description:To study the soil mcirobial functional communities and the nutrient cycles couplings changes after exposure to different contaminant
Project description:The present invention relates to methods for determining soil quality, and especially soil pollution, using the invertebrate soil organism Folsomia candida also designated as springtail. Specifically, the present invention relates to a method for determining soil quality comprising: contacting Folsomia Candida with a soil sample to be analysed during a time period of 1 to 5 days; isolating said soil contacted Folsomia Candida; extracting RNA from said isolated soil contacted Folsomia Candida; determing a gene expression profile based on said extracted RNA using microarray technology; comparing said gene expression profile with a reference gene expression profile; and determing soil quality based expression level differences between said gene expression profile and said control expression profile.
