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Life Sciences Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

2020

Virginia Commonwealth University

Microbiome

Articles 1 - 2 of 2

Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences

The Utilization Of Eukaryotic Cell Types In Microbiomes For Semen, Vaginal Fluid, And Menstrual Blood Identification Using 18s Rdna, Ines Benaissa Jan 2020

The Utilization Of Eukaryotic Cell Types In Microbiomes For Semen, Vaginal Fluid, And Menstrual Blood Identification Using 18s Rdna, Ines Benaissa

Master of Science in Forensic Science Directed Research Projects

The accurate identification of body fluids is vital for crime scene investigation and forensic analysis. While many body fluids can be presumptively identified, there is a lack of confirmatory testing for verification. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine if body fluids (menstrual blood, vaginal fluid, and semen) could be differentiated based on their eukaryotic microbial communities. The target area of interest was the V9 hyper-variable region of 18S ribosomal DNA (18S rDNA). The samples were extracted, barcoded using a duel-index strategy, and PCR amplified before undergoing high throughput sequencing using the Illumina Miseq FGx instrument. The samples …


A Eukaryotic Signature Based Method For Identification Of Saliva, Feces, And Urine, Alyssa Daniels Jan 2020

A Eukaryotic Signature Based Method For Identification Of Saliva, Feces, And Urine, Alyssa Daniels

Master of Science in Forensic Science Directed Research Projects

The conception of the Human Microbiome Project advanced the understanding of microbial communities in the human body and previous research has established that unique microbial signatures can help distinguish each body fluid. While these signatures have been developed for the prokaryotic microbiome, the next step is the examination of the eukaryotic microbiome. Eukaryotic signatures could provide a greater specificity and statistical weight when discerning between body fluids. These microbial markers can be implemented to develop a confirmatory assay for body fluid identification that works in tandem with other DNA based methods in the forensic workflow. Using a VCU approved IRB …