Mitochondrial DNA-based identification of forensically important flesh flies (Diptera: Sarcophagidae) in Thailand

  • Flesh flies (Sarcophagidae) are necrophagous insects initially colonizing on a corpse. The species-specific developmental data of the flies collected from a death scene can be used to estimate the minimum postmortem interval (PMImin). Thus, the first crucial step is to correctly identify the fly species. Because of the high similarity among species of flesh flies, DNA-based identification is considered more favorable than morphology-based identification. In this study, we demonstrated the effectiveness of combined sequences (2216 to 2218 bp) of cytochrome c oxidase subunit I and II genes (COI and COII) for identification of the following 14 forensically important flesh fly species in Thailand: Boettcherisca nathani Lopes, Fengia ostindicae (Senior-White), Harpagophalla kempi (Senior-White), Liopygia ruficornis (Fabricius), Lioproctia pattoni (Senior-White), Lioproctia saprianovae (Pape & Bänziger), Parasarcophaga albiceps (Meigen), Parasarcophaga brevicornis (Ho), Parasarcophaga dux (Thomson), Parasarcophaga misera (Walker), Sarcorohdendorfia antilope (Böttcher), Sarcorohdendorfia inextricata (Walker), Sarcorohdendorfia seniorwhitei (Ho) and Seniorwhitea princeps (Wiedemann). Nucleotide variations of Thai flesh flies were evenly distributed throughout the COI-COII genes. Mean intra- and interspecific variations ranged from 0.00 to 0.96% and 5.22% to 12.31%, respectively. Using Best Match (BM) and Best Close Match (BCM) criteria, identification success for the combined genes was 100%, while the All Species Barcodes (ASB) criterion showed 76.74% success. Maximum Likelihood (ML) and Bayesian Inference (BI) phylogenetic analyses yielded similar tree topologies of monophyletic clades between species with very strong support values. The achieved sequences covering 14 forensically important flesh fly species including newly submitted sequences for B. nathani, F. ostindicae and S. seniorwhitei, can serve as a reliable reference database for further forensic entomological research in Thailand and in other areas where those species occur.

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Author: Chutharat SamerjaiORCiD, Kabkaew L. SukontasonORCiD, Narin SontigunORCiD, Kom SukontasonORCiD, Tunwadee Klong-klaewORCiD, Theeraphap ChareonviriyaphapORCiD, Hiromu Kurahashi, Sven KlimpelORCiDGND, Judith KochmannORCiD, Atiporn SaeungORCiD, Pradya SomboonORCiD, Anchalee WannasanORCiD
URN:urn:nbn:de:hebis:30:3-527558
DOI:https://doi.org/10.3390/insects11010002
ISSN:2075-4450
Pubmed Id:https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31861293
Parent Title (English):Insects
Publisher:MDPI
Place of publication:Basel
Document Type:Article
Language:English
Year of Completion:2019
Date of first Publication:2019/12/18
Publishing Institution:Universitätsbibliothek Johann Christian Senckenberg
Release Date:2020/02/03
Tag:COI; COII; Thailand; flesh flies; forensic entomology; molecular identification
Volume:11.2019
Issue:1, Art. 2
Page Number:16
Note:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited
HeBIS-PPN:461422115
Institutes:Biowissenschaften / Institut für Ökologie, Evolution und Diversität
Dewey Decimal Classification:5 Naturwissenschaften und Mathematik / 59 Tiere (Zoologie) / 590 Tiere (Zoologie)
Sammlungen:Universitätspublikationen
Licence (German):License LogoCreative Commons - Namensnennung 4.0