Fu X L, Guo J J, Liu Z Y, Shen X, Cai J F
Department of Forensic Science, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Central South University, Changsha 410013, China.
Public Security Department of Lhasa, Liuwu Xintong Railway Station of Lhasa, Lhasa 850000, China.
Fa Yi Xue Za Zhi. 2018 Oct;34(5):475-481. doi: 10.12116/j.issn.1004-5619.2018.05.004. Epub 2018 Oct 25.
Necrobiome is the main factor causing the cadaver decomposition. Studying the microbial succession during decomposition is one of the main tasks of forensic microbiology. The interactive relationships among cadaver, environment and microorganisms are complicated. The microbial succession study relies on macroscopic monitoring of community composition and the diversity change in each decomposition stage. With the maturity and development of high-throughput sequencing （HTS）, the structure and diversity of microbial communities in different environments have been successively revealed. A new breakthrough to explore the cadaveric microorganisms has been opened as well. It has become the research hotspots in forensic microbiology to reveal the microbial succession in the process of cadaver decomposition and to interpret the essence of various decomposition phenomena by using HTS, which can provide a new reference for postmortem interval （PMI） estimation. The present paper reviews studies on PMI estimation by using cadaveric microorganism. Problems and application prospects of forensic microbiology studies are discussed on the basis of the current application of HTS technology in the exploration of microbial succession.
尸体微生物群落是导致尸体分解的主要因素。研究分解过程中的微生物演替是法医微生物学的主要任务之一。尸体、环境和微生物之间的相互作用关系错综复杂。微生物演替研究依赖于对群落组成的宏观监测以及每个分解阶段多样性的变化。随着高通量测序（HTS）技术的成熟与发展，不同环境中微生物群落的结构和多样性相继被揭示。探索尸体微生物也开启了新的突破。利用HTS揭示尸体分解过程中的微生物演替并解释各种分解现象的本质，已成为法医微生物学的研究热点，可为死后间隔时间（PMI）的估计提供新的参考依据。本文综述了利用尸体微生物估计PMI的研究。基于HTS技术目前在微生物演替探索中的应用，探讨了法医微生物学研究存在的问题及应用前景。
