Florida International University, Miami, FL 33199, United States.
Nova Southeastern University, Fort Lauderdale-Davie, FL 33314, United States.
Forensic Sci Int Genet. 2021 Mar;51:102432. doi: 10.1016/j.fsigen.2020.102432. Epub 2020 Nov 28.
Since its inception, the Human Microbiome Project (HMP) has provided key discoveries that can be applied to forensics, in addition to those of obvious medical value. Whether for postmortem interval estimation, geolocation, or human identification, there are many applications of the microbiome as an investigative lead for forensic casework. The human skin microbiome has shown great potential for use in studies of transfer and human identification, however there has been little focus on the genital microbiome, in particular penile skin which differs from other body sites. Our preliminary data on both the penile and vaginal microbiome demonstrates potential value in cases of sexual assault. In this study we describe genital microbial signatures based on the analysis of five male and five female genital samples and compare these results to those from longitudinal studies. Selected taxa, e.g., Gardnerella, Lactobacilli, Finegoldia, Peptoniphilus, and Anaerococci, are shown to be candidate constituents of the genital microbiome that merit investigation for use in sexual assault casework.
自成立以来，人类微生物组计划（HMP）除了具有明显的医学价值外，还提供了可应用于法医学的关键发现。无论是用于推断死亡时间、地理位置还是人类识别，微生物组都可以作为法医案件调查的线索，有许多应用。人类皮肤微生物组在转移和人类识别研究中显示出巨大的应用潜力，但是对于生殖微生物组，特别是与其他身体部位不同的阴茎皮肤，关注甚少。我们在阴茎和阴道微生物组方面的初步数据表明，在性侵犯案件中有潜在的应用价值。在这项研究中，我们根据对五名男性和五名女性生殖器样本的分析描述了生殖微生物特征，并将这些结果与纵向研究进行了比较。选定的分类群，例如加德纳菌、乳杆菌、非淋病奈瑟菌、消化链球菌和厌氧球菌，被证明是生殖微生物组的候选组成部分，值得进一步研究，以用于性侵犯案件的法医工作。
