CaDAVEr: a metagenome-assembled genome catalog of microbial decomposers across vertebrate environments

• NCJ Number: 310824
• Journal: Microbiology Resource Announcements Volume: 14 Issue: 11 Dated: s2025
• Author(s): Valerie A. Seitz; Bridget B. McGivern; Michael Shaffer; Mikayla A. Borton; Aeriel D. Belk; Parsa Ghadermazi; Cameron Martino; Liat Shenhav; Liat Shenhav; Pixu Shi; Alexandra Emmons; Heather Deel; Zhenjiang Zech Xu; Victoria Nieciecki; Qiyun Zhu; Kalen Cantrell; Asa Ben-Hur; Sasha C. Reed; Greg C. Humphry; Gail Ackermann; Daniel McDonald; Siu Hung Joshua Chan; Melissa Connor; Derek A. Boyd; Jake Smith; Jenna M. S. Watson; Giovanna Vidoli; Dawnie Steadman; Aaron M. Lynne; Sibyl Bucheli; David O. Carter; Zachary M. Burcham; Rob Knight; Kelly C. Wrighton; Jessica L. Metcalf
• Date Published: 2025
• Grant Number(s): 2018-R2-CX-0017; 2018-R2-CX-0018; 2016-DN-BX-4194; 2016-DN-BX-0194; 2015-DN-BX-K016
• Agencies: NIJ-Sponsored
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical)
• Award: Improving Estimates of the Postmortem Interval with Metagenomics and Metabolomics; Improving Machine Learning Methods for Predicting the Postmortem Interval Using Microbiome Data; Microbial Clocks for Estimating the Postmortem Interval of Human Remains at Three Anthropological Research Facilities; Habitat Specialization and the Evolution of Dispersal; Estimating the Postmortem Interval at Longer Timescales Using Bone

Abstract

Microbial degradation of organic matter is a fundamental Earth process, yet a mechanistic understanding of microbial metabolisms and successional ecology involved in decomposition remains poorly understood. Here, we announce the recovery of 277 cadaver-associated soil metagenome-assembled genomes to enhance our understanding of vertebrate decomposition microbial processes.

(Publisher abstract provided.)