This is an important forensic issue because soil evidence has the potential of being a valuable tool for linking a suspect, victim, or item to a crime scene. Currently, however, only class characteristics of soil are considered in traditional analysis. Using the methods described in this report, diverse and similar habitats were successfully differentiated in both multidimensional space and through supervised classification, which accurately classified soil samples back to their locations of origin 100 percent and 87.5 percent of the time, respectively. Time and space within a habitat did not affect bacterial profiles enough to hinder location-of-origin assignment, where samples were correctly classified an average of 96 percent of the time. Soil collected from evidentiary items exhibited abundance change of certain taxonomic classes, but remained clustered nearest its location of origin with 100-percent accuracy, even after a full year or long-term storage. Thus, the success in tracing soils back to a location of origin demonstrates the potential of next-generation sequencing of bacteria, in conjunction with a combination of robust statistical techniques, for the individualization of forensic soil samples. The methodology is detailed. 34 figures, 4 tables, and 43 references
Downloads
Similar Publications
- Genetic Architecture of Skin and Eye Color in an African-European Admixed Population
- Changing Course: Preventing Gang Membership, Chapter 10. Race and Ethnicity: What Are Their Roles in Gang Membership? (From Changing Course: Preventing Gang Membership, P 135-149, 2013, Thomas R. Simon, Nancy M. Ritter, and Reshma R. Mahendra, eds. - See
- A Review of the Evolution of the NCS-NCVS Police Reporting and Response Questions and Their Application to Older Women Experiencing Violent Victimization