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Identification of forensically important blow fly species (Diptera: Calliphoridae) in China by mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase I gene differentiation
Author(s) -
Liu QinLai,
Cai JiFeng,
Chang YunFeng,
Gu Yan,
Guo YaDong,
Wang XingHua,
Weng JiFang,
Zhong Ming,
Wang Xiang,
Yang Li,
Wu KunLu,
Lan LingMei,
Wang JiangFeng,
Chen YaoQing
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
insect science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.991
H-Index - 45
eISSN - 1744-7917
pISSN - 1672-9609
DOI - 10.1111/j.1744-7917.2010.01377.x
Subject(s) - biology , intraspecific competition , lucilia , calliphoridae , phylogenetic tree , cytochrome c oxidase subunit i , cytochrome c oxidase , dna barcoding , zoology , interspecific competition , mitochondrial dna , chrysomya megacephala , cytochrome b , evolutionary biology , gene , genetics , botany , larva , mitochondrion
Unambiguous and rapid sarcosaphagous insect species identification is an essential requirement for forensic investigations. Although some insect species are difficult to classify morphologically, they can be effectively identified using molecular methods based on similarity with abundant authenticated reference DNA sequences in local databases. However, local databases are still relatively incomplete in China because of the large land area with distinct regional conditions. In this study, 75 forensically important blow flies were collected from 23 locations in 16 Chinese provinces, and a 278‐bp segment of the cytochrome oxidase subunit I gene of all specimens was successfully sequenced. Phylogenetic analysis of the sequenced segments showed that all Calliphorid specimens were properly assigned into nine species with relatively strong supporting values, thus indicating that the 278‐bp cytochrome oxidase subunit one region is suitable for identification of Calliphorid species. The clear difference between intraspecific threshold and interspecific divergence confirmed the potential of this region for Calliphorid species identification, especially for distinguishing between morphologically similar species. Intraspecific geographic variations were observed in Lucilia sericata (Meigen, 1826) and Lucilia caesar (Linnaeus, 1758).