Microbial community profiling for the characterisation of soil evidence: Forensic considerations

Abstract

Soil contains a very rich and diverse array of microbial species. The observation by soil scientists that soil samples from different locales possess different microbial species' profiles has suggested that this approach might have potential forensic utility for linking soil evidence samples to their sites of origin. This chapter outlines the biology and technology of microbial community profiling, particularly in relation to DNA analysis. Three research challenges are posed and discussed that must be addressed if this approach is to find a place in the forensic armamentarium: (i) it must be demonstrated that microbial population assemblages vary in such a way as to allow samples from a particular patch to be differentiated from samples deriving from other places; (ii) analytical approaches to microbial community profiling must be developed that combine discriminatory power, robustness and reliability; and (iii) statistical methods must be identified that provide objective measures for assessing the similarities and differences between samples.