Time-dependent VOC-profile of decomposed human and animal remains in laboratory environment

Rosier, Elien; Loix, Sara; Develter, Wim; Voorde, Wim Van de; Tytgat, Jan; Cuypers, Eva

doi:10.1016/j.forsciint.2016.05.035

Cited by 30 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…The cadaveric smell is composed of up to 800 molecules belonging to almost all chemical families including alkanes, ketones, aromatics, amines, and sulfur compounds [ 28 , 30 , 31 , 32 ]. Moreover, the decomposition of a corpse involves a wide range of interweave mechanisms making it highly variable and uneasy to understand [ 29 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 ]. Numerous biotic (e.g., tissues nature, animal species, necrophagous insects, microorganisms) and abiotic factors (e.g., humidity, temperature, death location) affect the volatilome of a cadaver [ 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Moreover, the decomposition of a corpse involves a wide range of interweave mechanisms making it highly variable and uneasy to understand [ 29 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 ]. Numerous biotic (e.g., tissues nature, animal species, necrophagous insects, microorganisms) and abiotic factors (e.g., humidity, temperature, death location) affect the volatilome of a cadaver [ 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 ]. In addition, a decaying corpse typically goes through five stages of decomposition respectively named fresh, bloated, active decay, advanced decay and dry remains, all characterized by different blends of volatile compounds [ 28 , 34 , 41 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In addition, a decaying corpse typically goes through five stages of decomposition respectively named fresh, bloated, active decay, advanced decay and dry remains, all characterized by different blends of volatile compounds [ 28 , 34 , 41 ]. As a result, the volatile chemical cues released during the decomposition process differ greatly from one case to another [ 4 , 28 , 34 , 36 , 38 , 42 ], making it difficult to provide HRDDs’ handlers with training aids mimicking human decomposition.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Cadaver Dogs and the Deathly Hallows—A Survey and Literature Review on Selection and Training Procedure

Martin

Diederich

Verheggen

2020

Animals

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Human remains detection dogs (HRDDs) are powerful police assets to locate a corpse. However, the methods used to select and train them are as diverse as the number of countries with such a canine brigade. First, a survey sent to human remains searching brigades (Ncountries = 10; NBrigades = 16; NHandlers = 50; Nquestions = 9), to collect their working habits confirmed the lack of optimized selection and training procedures. Second, a literature review was performed in order to outline the strengths and shortcomings of HRDDs training. A comparison between the scientific knowledge and the common practices used by HRDDs brigade was then conducted focusing on HRDDs selection and training procedures. We highlighted that HRDD handlers select their dogs by focusing on behavioral traits while neglecting anatomical features, which have been shown to be important. Most HRDD handlers reported to use a reward-based training, which is in accordance with training literature for dogs. Training aids should be representative of the odor target to allow a dog to reach optimal performances. The survey highlighted the wide diversity of homemade training aids, and the need to optimize their composition. In the present document, key research topics to improve HRDD works are also provided.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Cadaver Dogs and the Deathly Hallows—A Survey and Literature Review on Selection and Training Procedure

Martin

Diederich

Verheggen

2020

Animals

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“…The liner was then heated to 260 °C with a temperature ramp of 12 °C s −1 . All compounds were identified by interpreting their mass spectra and by injecting standards when available (Rosier et al ., , , ). Concentrations of VOCs released during the sampling were calculated by injecting 1 μL of chlorobenzene (2.21 ng μL −1 ) as an internal standard.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 97%

Behavioural response of Lucilia sericata to a decaying body infested by necrophagous insects

Martin

Verheggen

2018

Physiol. Entomol.

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Numerous insect species are necrophagous, with Dipterans and Coleopterans being the most abundant on a corpse. Whether the presence of necrophageous species on a corpse affects the attraction of adult blowflies to the corpse is sparsely studied. We test the hypothesis that Lucilia sericata can discriminate the odour of a noncolonized cadaver from the odour of a cadaver on which conspecific and/or heterospecific necrophagous insects are feeding. The volatile organic compounds are collected from decomposing rats under four modalities: (i) in the absence of insects; (ii) in the presence of L. sericata adults; (iii) in the presence of Dermestes frischii adults; (iv) and in the presence of both D. frischii adults and L. sericata adults. During a multiple‐choice bioassay, blowflies are exposed to the four odour samples, and are shown to prefer the odour of a corpse where conspecific larvae are present. We also expect blowflies to avoid cadavers on which predators where present, although L. sericata are not repulsed by the odour of a cadaver colonized by hide beetles. We then compare the average quantities of all 61 volatile molecules identified, finding that the presence of necrophagous insects impacts some of them. However, none of the volatile organic compounds previously reported in the literature as being attractive for L. sericata adults are impacted by the presence of necrophagous insects. The results of the present study suggest that blowfly larvae modify the volatilome of a corpse, enabling adults to discriminate a colonized from a noncolonized corpse.

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“…Thus, the PMImin error could vary from a few hours to a few days when pre-CI was overlooked unconsciously, which could limit the application of forensic entomology. Some irritant compounds, such as volatile compounds (VOCs), are produced during the process of corpse decomposition (Rosier et al, 2016). It is believed that these VOCs provide clues for host detection and oviposition in necrophagous flies.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Identification of olfactory genes of a forensically important blow fly, Aldrichina grahami (Diptera: Calliphoridae)

Han

Liu

Meng

et al. 2020

PeerJ

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Background The time-length between the first colonization of necrophagous insect on the corpse and the beginning of investigation represents the most important forensic concept of minimum post-mortem inference (PMImin). Before colonization, the time spent by an insect to detect and locate a corpse could significantly influence the PMImin estimation. The olfactory system plays an important role in insect food foraging behavior. Proteins like odorant binding proteins (OBPs), chemosensory proteins (CSPs), odorant receptors (ORs), ionotropic receptors (IRs) and sensory neuron membrane proteins (SNMPs) represent the most important parts of this system. Exploration of the above genes and their necrophagous products should facilitate not only the understanding of their roles in forging but also their influence on the period before PMImin. Transcriptome sequencing has been wildly utilized to reveal the expression of particular genes under different temporal and spatial condition in a high throughput way. In this study, transcriptomic study was implemented on antennae of adult Aldrichina grahami (Aldrich) (Diptera: Calliphoridae), a necrophagous insect with forensic significance, to reveal the composition and expression feature of OBPs, CSPs, ORs, IRs and SNMPs genes at transcriptome level. Method Antennae transcriptome sequencing of A. grahami was performed using next-generation deep sequencing on the platform of BGISEQ-500. The raw data were deposited into NCBI (PRJNA513084). All the transcripts were functionally annotated using Gene Ontology (GO) and the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) database. Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were analyzed between female and male antennae. The transcripts of OBPs, CSPs, ORs, IRs and SNMPs were identified based on sequence feature. Phylogenetic development of olfactory genes of A. grahami with other species was analyzed using MEGA 5.0. RT-qPCR was utilized to verify gene expression generated from the transcriptome sequencing. Results In total, 14,193 genes were annotated in the antennae transcriptome based on the GO and the KEGG databases. We found that 740 DEGs were differently expressed between female and male antennae. Among those, 195 transcripts were annotated as candidate olfactory genes then checked by sequence feature. Of these, 27 OBPs, one CSPs, 49 ORs, six IRs and two SNMPs were finally identified in antennae of A. grahami. Phylogenetic development suggested that some olfactory genes may play a role in food forging, perception of pheromone and decomposing odors. Conclusion Overall, our results suggest the existence of gender and spatial expression differences in olfactory genes from antennae of A. grahami. Such differences are likely to greatly influence insect behavior around a corpse. In addition, candidate olfactory genes with predicted function provide valuable information for further studies of the molecular mechanisms of olfactory detection of forensically important fly species and thus deepen our understanding of the period before PMImin.

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Time-dependent VOC-profile of decomposed human and animal remains in laboratory environment

Cited by 30 publications

References 25 publications

Cadaver Dogs and the Deathly Hallows—A Survey and Literature Review on Selection and Training Procedure

Cadaver Dogs and the Deathly Hallows—A Survey and Literature Review on Selection and Training Procedure

Behavioural response of Lucilia sericata to a decaying body infested by necrophagous insects

Identification of olfactory genes of a forensically important blow fly, Aldrichina grahami (Diptera: Calliphoridae)

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